Cancer cell migration on straight, wavy, loop and grid microfibre patterns

Abstract

Cell migration plays an important role in physiological and pathological processes where the fibrillar morphology of extracellular matrices (ECM) could regulate the migration dynamics. To mimic the morphological characteristics of fibrillar matrix structures, low-voltage continuous electrospinning was adapted to construct straight, wavy, looped and gridded fibre patterns made of polystyrene (of fibre diameter ca. 3 μm). Cells were free to explore their different shapes in response to the directly-adhered fibre, as well as to the neighbouring patterns. For all the patterns studied, analysing cellular migration dynamics of MDA-MB-231 (a highly migratory breast cancer cell line) demonstrated two interesting findings: first, although cells dynamically adjust their shapes and migration trajectories in response to different fibrillar environments, their average step speed is minimally affected by the fibre global pattern; secondly, a switch in behaviour was observed when the pattern features approach the upper limit of the cell body’s minor axis, reflecting that cells’ ability to divert from an existing fibre track is limited by the size along the cell body’s minor axis. It is therefore concluded that the upper limit of cell body’s minor axis might act as a guide for the design of microfibre patterns for different purposes of cell migration.

Stereo Coverage and Overall Stiffness of Biomaterial Arrays Underly Parts of Topography Effects on Cell Adhesion

“…Cell–material interactions are critical for tissue regeneration. − Cells respond to various material cues, cell cues and soluble factors. − As material cues are concerned, surface topography and matrix stiffness are two physical factors which always exist more or less. The present study distinguishes itself as the focus understanding of a part of topological effect in light of overall stiffness effect.…”

Functionalization of electrospun nanofiber for biomedical application

“…Nanofibers are extensively explored for cancer treatment because they can sustain the release of anti‐tumor drugs with specificity, integrated proliferation, angiogenesis and invasion and manipulation with the cancer cell migration 28 …”

“…The cells could take up the desired shapes as they adhered and migrated. The observation was primarily observed that while cells dynamically adjust their forms and relocation paths in response to various microfibrils' surroundings, the global fiber pattern has only a limited influence on their typical move speed; Secondarily, whenever the design characteristics approach the upper bound of the cell body's minor axis, a behavior change was observed, indicating that cells' potential to redirect from an existing fiber track is constrained by the dimensions along the cell body's minor axis 28 . Figure 5 illustrates the nanofiber application in cancer research and diagnosis.…”

Biointerface Fiber Technology from Electrospinning to Inflight Printing

“…With various planar fiber patterns, the role of morphological cues provided by ECM could be used to study cell migrations. Cancer cell migration dynamics were observed using LEP produced fibers of different patterns, and it was found that the upper limit of the cell body minor axis determined cells’ fiber switching ability, revealing fiber displacement as a key factor to consider in scaffold design (Figure b) . Suspended ECM protein-based fiber arrays were fabricated in situ on polymer frames, creating various patterns with a defined 3D structure.…”

“…Cancer cell migration dynamics were observed using LEP produced fibers of different patterns, and it was found that the upper limit of the cell body minor axis determined cells' fiber switching ability, revealing fiber displacement as a key factor to consider in scaffold design (Figure 6b). 52 Suspended ECM protein-based fiber arrays were fabricated in situ on polymer frames, creating various patterns with a defined 3D structure. The biocompatibility of 3D ECMbased fiber array was demonstrated by culturing glioblastoma cells (Figure 6c).…”