Bio‐electrospraying and Cell Electrospinning: Progress and Opportunities for Basic Biology and Clinical Sciences

Abstract

Engineering of functional tissues is a fascinating and fertile arena of research and development. This flourishing enterprise weaves together many areas of research to tackle the most complex question faced to date, namely how to design and reconstruct a synthetic three‐dimensional fully functional tissue on demand. At present our healthcare is under threat by several social and economical issues together with those of a more scientific and clinical nature. One such issue arises from our increasing life expectancy, resulting in an ageing society. This steeply growing ageing society requires functional organotypic tissues on demand for repair, replacement, and rejuvenation (R3). Several approaches are pioneered and developed to assist conventional tissue/organ transplantation. In this Progress Report, “non‐contact jet‐based” approaches for engineering functional tissues are introduced and bio‐electrosprays and cell electrospinning, i.e., biotechniques that have demonstrated as being benign for directly handling living cells and whole organisms, are highlighted. These biotechniques possess the ability to directly handle heterogeneous cell populations as suspensions with a biopolymer and/or other micro/nanomaterials for directly forming three‐dimensional functional living reconstructs. These discoveries and developments have provided a promising biotechnology platform with far‐reaching ramifications for a wide range of applications in basic biological laboratories to their utility in the clinic.

Pharmaceutical Applications of Electrospraying

“…165 Moreover, synthetic tailormade tissues and organs or controlled and targeted delivery of cell therapies to specific cellular organs which could enable the delivery of personalized medicine and treatment to particular patients with a given disease state can be regarded as an application area of BES. 166,167 Typical examples of handling living cells by electrospraying can be found elsewhere. Joly et al 168 investigated the influence of BES on the viability of cell surface molecules as these molecules play a critical role in cell communication or functioning within tissues or organs.…”

Rational Design of Nanofiber Scaffolds for Orthopedic Tissue Repair and Regeneration

“…Recent findings have demonstrated the ability to directly form cell-laden nanofibers in relatively large quantities using cell electrospinning. Such an approach could be useful for constructing 3D functional tissues for repairing and regenerating damaged orthopedic tissues [127,128]. Although electrospun nanofiber scaffolds have been widely examined for orthopedic tissue repair and regeneration, most studies are still in their infancy and are limited to in vitro studies.…”

Interactions between Surfactants in Solution and Electrospun Protein Fibers: Effects on Release Behavior and Fiber Properties

“…The nanofibers can be functionalized in order to improve the performance in vivo, for example by addition of proteins to increase biocompatibility 6,7 , addition of a polymer to strengthen the mechanical properties 7 , addition of drugs such as antibiotics in wound dressing [8][9][10] , or growth factors or DNA for tissue engineering [11][12][13][14][15] . Even cells can be electrospun to promote regeneration of new tissue [16][17][18] . During optimization of the fiber properties, special attention should be paid for instance to the hydrophilicity of the fibers, fiber stability, and drug release profiles (in case of encapsulated compounds) 12 .…”