Bioadaptive Porous 3D Scaffolds Comprising Cellulose and Chitosan Nanofibers Constructed by Pickering Emulsion Templating

Abstract

Highly porous three‐dimensional (3D) scaffolds can mimic the lobular structure of a human liver where hepatocytes are organized. However, 3D scaffolds with uniformly porous and oriented structures are challenging to fabricate without cross‐linking agents. Herein, this work presents a Pickering emulsion‐induced interface approach to construct aligned porous scaffolds for 3D cell cultures through the combined use of surface‐carboxylated cellulose nanofibers and chitosan nanofibers as stabilizers, and freezing/lyophilization to remove the oil phase. The obtained Pickering emulsions exhibit long‐term stability and their droplet sizes are tunable from 2.7 to 10.2 µm. Assembly at the oil–water interface can be modulated by controlling the NaCl dosage and oil phase proportion, resulting in porous foams with tunable porosity and versatile architectures as an in vitro alternative to the native liver microenvironment. The foams are noncytotoxic, confirmed using mouse fibroblast NIH/3T3 cells, and the cells grow both on the surface and in the internal structure of the foam. Notably, the 3D porous scaffolds are favorable microenvironments for the formation of human liver carcinoma HepG2 spheroidal cells, which exhibit liver‐like activity. This strategy based on Pickering emulsion templating provides a new avenue for constructing bioadaptive 3D scaffolds, specifically all‐biomass porous foams, for tissue engineering.

Porous Structural Microfluidic Device for Biomedical Diagnosis: A Review

“…Newborn human fibroblasts (NHF) were cultured on the scaffold surface for up to 7 days, demonstrating the biocompatibility of the scaffold and showing unique cell responses at a macroscopic level with biomimetic morphology. Li et al prepared a method for constructing aligned porous scaffolds for 3D cell culture that does not require cross-linking agents [ 233 ]. The porosity of the porous foam was adjusted by controlling the amount of NaCl and the ratio of the oil phase.…”

Polysaccharide Nanofiber‐Stabilized Pickering Emulsion Microparticles Induce Pyroptotic Cell Death in Hepatocytes and Kupffer Cells

“…The height of TOCNF and CtNF, roughly corresponding to each nanofiber width, was 3.95 and 4.61 nm, respectively, which is consistent with our previous studies. [28][29][30] Primary alcohol at the C6 position of cellulose was selectively converted to carboxylate in TOCNF, and partial deacetylation occurred on the surface of chitin, as schematically illustrated in Figure S1 (Supporting Information). BNP tended to form aggregates and had an average height of ≈1.5 nm.…”

“…Based on our previous studies, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TOCNF), CtNF, and chitosan nanofiber with characteristic crystalline forms and nanofiber morphology are promising nanomaterials for developing bioadaptive cell culture scaffolds with excellent cellular microenvironments for cell adhesion and proliferation on 2D substrates and inside porous 3D foams. [28][29][30] However, although porous foams were successfully fabricated by a PE-templating method using TOCNF and chitosan nanofiber, this kind of cell culture scaffold has limited cellular uptake and interaction at the interface between polysaccharide nanofibers and cultured cells. [30] PE microparticles with pliability and deformability may offer an efficient strategy to enhance vaccinations and adaptive immunity because of their large specific surface areas and high physical stability.…”

“…[28][29][30] However, although porous foams were successfully fabricated by a PE-templating method using TOCNF and chitosan nanofiber, this kind of cell culture scaffold has limited cellular uptake and interaction at the interface between polysaccharide nanofibers and cultured cells. [30] PE microparticles with pliability and deformability may offer an efficient strategy to enhance vaccinations and adaptive immunity because of their large specific surface areas and high physical stability. [31] Therefore, further research must be directed to the investigation of PPE microparticles for their cytotoxicity and specific inflammatory responses in liver cells, which are the primary target of microparticles.…”

Layer-by-Layer Deposition of Low-Solid Nanochitin Emulgels Creates Porous Structures for High Cell Attachment and Proliferation

“…Naturally-derived colloids can be potentially used for the same purpose, since related properties are encoded in their structures. In this regard, a wide structural diversity can be added given the complex supramolecular assembly that emerges from colloidal interactions. , Hence, multiscale porous structures have been achieved by introducing naturally harnessed materials; − however, conversion into robust, hierarchical organizations has been challenging given the lack of control on multilevel assembly.…”