Key Laboratory of Science and Technology of Eco-Textile, Ministry of Education & Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Nano-Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, People's Republic of China.
Department of Hernia and Abdominal Wall Surgery, Shanghai East Hospital, TongJi University, Shanghai 200120, People's Republic of China.
Biomed Mater. 2021 Oct 4;16(6). doi: 10.1088/1748-605X/ac28a5.
Electrospinning represents the simplest approach to fabricate nanofiber scaffolds that approximate the heterogeneous fibrous structure of the meniscus. More effort is needed to understand the relationship between scaffold properties and cell responses to determine the appropriate scaffolds supporting meniscus tissue repair and regeneration. In this study, we investigate the influence of nanofiber configuration of electrospun scaffolds on phenotype and matrix production of meniscus cells, as well as on scaffold degradation behaviors and biocompatibility. Twisting electrospun nanofibers into yarns not only recapitulates the major collagen bundles of the meniscus but also increases the pore size and porosity of resultant scaffolds. The yarn scaffold significantly regulated expression levels of meniscus-associated genes and promoted extracellular matrix production compared with conventional electrospun scaffolds with random or aligned nanofiber orientation. Additionally, the yarn scaffold allowed considerable cell infiltration and experienced faster degradation and tissue remodeling upon subcutaneous implantation in a rat model. These results suggest that nanofiber configuration dictates cell interactions, scaffold degradation and integration with host tissue, providing design parameters of porosity and pore size of electrospun scaffolds toward meniscus repair.
静电纺丝是制造纳米纤维支架的最简单方法，这种支架近似于半月板的异质纤维结构。需要进一步研究以了解支架性能与细胞反应之间的关系，从而确定支持半月板组织修复和再生的合适支架。在这项研究中，我们研究了静电纺丝支架的纳米纤维结构对半月板细胞表型和基质产生的影响，以及对支架降解行为和生物相容性的影响。将静电纺丝纳米纤维扭成纱线不仅再现了半月板的主要胶原束，而且增加了所得支架的孔径和孔隙率。与具有随机或定向纳米纤维取向的传统静电纺丝支架相比，纱线支架显著调节了半月板相关基因的表达水平，并促进了细胞外基质的产生。此外，纱线支架允许大量细胞浸润，并在大鼠模型的皮下植入后经历更快的降解和组织重塑。这些结果表明，纳米纤维结构决定了细胞相互作用、支架降解以及与宿主组织的整合，为静电纺丝支架的半月板修复提供了孔隙率和孔径的设计参数。
