Effect of polyvinylidene fluoride electrospun fiber orientation on neural stem cell differentiation

Abstract

Electrospun polymer piezoelectric fibers can be used in neural tissue engineering (NTE) to mimic the physical, biological, and material properties of the native extracellular matrix. In this work, we have developed scaffolds based on polymer fiber architectures for application in NTE. To study the role of such three-dimensional scaffolds, a rotating drum collector was used for electrospinning poly(vinylidene) fluoride (PVDF) polymer at various rotation speeds. The morphology, orientation, polymorphism, as well as the mechanical behavior of the nonaligned and aligned fiber-based architectures were characterized. We have demonstrated that the jet flow and the electrostatic forces generated by electrospinning of PVDF induced local conformation changes which promote the generation of the β-phase. Fiber anisotropy could be a critical feature for the design of suitable scaffolds for NTEs. We thus assessed the impact of PVDF fiber alignment on the behavior of monkey neural stem cells (NSCs). NSCs were seeded on nonaligned and aligned scaffolds and their morphology, adhesion, and differentiation capacities into the neuronal and glial pathways were studied using microscopic techniques. Significant changes in the growth and differentiation capacities of NSCs into neuronal and glial cells as a function of the fiber alignment were evidenced. These results demonstrate that PVDF scaffolds may serve as instructive scaffolds for NSC survival and differentiation, and may be valuable tools for the development of cell- and scaffold-based strategies for neural repair. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 2376-2393, 2017.

Electrospun Fibrous PVDF‐TrFe Scaffolds for Cardiac Tissue Engineering, Differentiation, and Maturation

“…It has been previously shown that fibrous scaffolds promote neurite migration, and growth along the nanofiber orientation . Moreover, primates neurones exhibited elongated morphology parallel to the fibers direction when cultured on electrospun PVDF sheets . Interactions between PVDF and cells were extensively studied, particularly for bone tissue engineering .…”

“…[55,56] Moreover, primates neurones exhibited elongated morphology parallel to the fibers direction when cultured on electrospun PVDF sheets. [57] Interactions between PVDF and cells were extensively studied, particularly for bone tissue engineering. [29] It has been demonstrated that increased beta phase PVDF films favored fibronectin protein adsorption, and facilitated osteoblats adhesion and proliferation.…”

Controlling Cell Behavior through the Design of Biomaterial Surfaces: A Focus on Surface Modification Techniques

“…In the case of highly aligned fibers, cell elongation is highly parallel to the direction of fiber orientation, while it is random for nonorganized fibers . Lins et al selected the aligned and nonaligned fiber–based architectures to investigate their effects on the behavior of monkey NSCs ( Figure A,B) . They found that nonaligned electrospun polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) fibers were suitable for both glial differentiation and NSC maintenance, whereas aligned PVDF fibers were more suitable for neuronal differentiation.…”

Structural insights into semicrystalline states of electrospun nanofibers: a multiscale analytical approach

“…14,15 It has also been reported that a certain degree of nanofiber alignment is important for specific bio-medical applications. [16][17][18] The combined role of polymer chemical structure and nanofiber alignment shows a significant effect in promoting interactions with cells, such as controlling the phenotype and morphology of osteoblasts 16 and skeletal myoblasts. 14,15,19 In vascular graft applications, topography driven from the size distribution of nanofibers influences the platelets adhesion on membranes and the blood compatibility.…”