Enhanced Attachment and Collagen Type I Deposition of MC3T3-E1 Cells via Electrohydrodynamic Printed Sub-Microscale Fibrous Architectures

Abstract

Micro/sub-microscale fibrillar architectures of extracellular matrix play important roles in regulating cellular behaviors such as attachment, migration, and differentiation. However, the interactions between cells and organized micro/sub-microscale fibers have not been fully clarified yet. Here, the responses of MC3T3-E1 cells to electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printed scaffolds with microscale and/or sub-microscale fibrillar architectures were investigated to demonstrate their potential for bone tissue regeneration. Fibrillar scaffolds were EHD-fabricated with microscale (20.51 ± 1.70 μm) and/or sub-microscale (0.58 ± 0.51 μm) fibers in a controlled manner. The in vitro results showed that cells exhibited a 1.25-fold increase in initial attached cell number and 1.17-fold increase in vinculin expression on scaffolds with micro/sub-microscale fibers than that on scaffolds with pure microscale fibers. After 14 days of culture, the cells expressed 1.23 folds increase in collagen type I (COL-I) deposition compared with that on scaffolds with pure microscale fibers. These findings indicated that the EHD printed sub-microscale fibrous architectures can facilitate attachment and COL I secretion of MC3T3-E1 cells, which may provide a new insight to the design and fabrication of fibrous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.

Coaxial electrohydrodynamic printing of core–shell microfibrous scaffolds with layer-specific growth factors release for enthesis regeneration

“…Recently, electrohydrodynamic (EHD)-printed microfibrous scaffolds were developed for tissue engineering applications due to their unprecedented advantages for generating cell-favorable microenvironments [20][21][22]. It is reported that EHD-printed PCL scaffolds with specifically designed microscale fibers and pores can enhance cellular activities, including alignment [23], adhesion, proliferation and migration [24]. However, the absence of stem cells at the wound locations remains one of the main causes of the failure of rotator cuff healing [19,25].…”

Embedding aligned nanofibrous architectures within 3D-printed polycaprolactone scaffolds for directed cellular infiltration and tissue regeneration

“…In this aspect, tiny fibers derived from electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jetting (e.g. EHD printing, electrospinning) are recognized as important building blocks for mimicking the fibrillar nature of ECM [10][11][12]. In one interesting study, Huang et al [13] developed macroscale polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds with both microscale and nanoscale filaments by alternately using FFF and electrospinning techniques in a layer-by-layer manner.…”