Gao Xiang, Peng Jingjun, Huang Linjie, Peng Xiaoquan, Cheng Yanjun, Zhang Wei, Jia Wei
National Innovation Center for Advanced Medical Devices, National Institute of Advanced Medical Devices, Shenzhen 518110, China.
Centre for Translational Medicine Research and Development, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Materials (Basel). 2025 Jul 8;18(14):3224. doi: 10.3390/ma18143224.
Electrospun fibers, possessing biomimetic characteristics similar to fibrous extracellular matrices, have attracted widespread attention as scaffold materials for skin tissue engineering. The topographical structure of electrospun fibers plays a critical role in determining cell behavior. However, the effects of fiber topography on human skin fibroblasts (HSFs) remain unclear. In this study, electrospinning technology was employed to investigate how parallel and crossed fiber architectures influence the spreading morphology, proliferation, and migration of HSFs. The results demonstrated that cells exhibited spindle-shaped elongation along single fibers; on closely spaced parallel fibers, cells formed cross-adhesions between adjacent fibers, with a fiber spacing of 30-60 μm serving as the threshold range for distinguishing individual cell behaviors. At fiber intersections, a characteristic spacing of 100 μm distinguished three distinct cellular responses: anchoring, turning, and bridging. The probability of a cell altering its preexisting migration path depended on its ability to extend laterally and reach adjacent fibers, which was constrained by the upper limit of the cell body's minor axis. This study elucidated the unique role of the electrospun fiber topography in guiding cellular decision-making in complex microenvironments, provided important insights into topography-triggered cell migration, and highlighted the practical significance of material-guided strategies in tissue engineering.
具有与纤维状细胞外基质相似的仿生特性的电纺纤维，作为皮肤组织工程的支架材料受到了广泛关注。电纺纤维的拓扑结构在决定细胞行为方面起着关键作用。然而，纤维拓扑对人皮肤成纤维细胞（HSFs）的影响仍不清楚。在本研究中，采用电纺技术研究平行和交叉纤维结构如何影响HSFs的铺展形态、增殖和迁移。结果表明，细胞沿单根纤维呈纺锤形伸长；在紧密排列的平行纤维上，细胞在相邻纤维之间形成交叉粘连，纤维间距为30 - 60μm作为区分单个细胞行为的阈值范围。在纤维交叉点，100μm的特征间距区分了三种不同的细胞反应：锚定、转向和桥接。细胞改变其先前迁移路径的概率取决于其横向延伸并到达相邻纤维的能力，这受到细胞体短轴上限的限制。本研究阐明了电纺纤维拓扑在复杂微环境中指导细胞决策的独特作用，为拓扑触发的细胞迁移提供了重要见解，并突出了材料引导策略在组织工程中的实际意义。
