Facile Strategy to Generate Aligned Polymer Nanofibers: Effects on Cell Adhesion

Abstract

Structure of polymer fiber membranes plays a vital role in controlling cell responses as applied to immobilize targets for specific cell interactions. Electrospinning is a simple and powerful method to prepare polymer fiber membranes with scales from nano- to micrometers. In this report, a facile yet versatile strategy has been developed for fabricating polymer nanofiber membranes with well-aligned structures using a glass sheet between the needle and a static drum as the collector. Effects of solution concentration, polymer molecular weight, applied voltage, and collection distance on the morphologies of the formed fibers were systematically studied. Adhesion of cells (e.g., mouse melanoma cells B16-F10 and fibroblast cells NIH-3T3) on the fiber membrane has been further investigated. Our results show that cell morphologies varied from elongated to spherical on the random fiber membrane when the pore area of membrane decreased. In contrast, on the membrane with aligned morphology, when decreasing the gap width of fiber membrane, cell is found to keep elongated state and spread along the alignment direction. This work provides a facile yet effective strategy to engineer surface structures of the fiber membranes for controlling cell adhesion.

Tailoring micro/nano-fibers for biomedical applications

“…Besides, Wang et al developed a facile strategy to fabricate nanofibrous membranes with well-aligned structures. They used a nonconductive glass sheet as the collector which was located between the needle and a static drum, and aligned fibers could be obtained before they arrived at the conductive drum [ 161 ].…”

Bone Mineralization in Electrospun-Based Bone Tissue Engineering

“…Recent progress in BTE has also encouraged electrospinning technology to fabricate more aligned and ordered nanofibers that assist with the design of osteoinductive and osteoconductive electrospun scaffolds. Compared to non-aligned nanofibers, aligned nanofibers modulate cell adhesion and migration, and they affect the production of ECM and cytokines [ 110 ]. NIH-3T3 fibroblast cells were attached and spread along with the aligned nanofibers by modifying the cellular cytoskeleton onto the aligned electrospun nanofibers.…”

ECM-inspired micro/nanofibers for modulating cell function and tissue generation

“…Recent studies have suggested the complex roles of topological cues, fiber density, chemical composition, and other physicochemical properties of electrospun fibers on modulating cellular adhesion, proliferation, migration, phenotype, and differentiation. For instance, controlling the topographical architecture and pore size of electrospun scaffold could modulate the adhesion state and morphology of fibroblasts (9). A beneficial effect of an anisotropic electrospun matrix has been revealed during its application in promoting healing and suppressing scar tissue formation, which could be potentially attributed to the down-regulated -smooth muscle actin (-SMA) expression and inhibited differentiation of fibroblasts into contractile myofibroblasts (10,11).…”