Response of human chondrocytes on polymer surfaces with different micropore sizes for tissue‐engineered cartilage

Abstract

Response of chondrocytes on polymer surfaces is important for applications of tissue-engineered cartilage, and tissue engineering contains the interaction of cells on material surfaces. We examined the behavior of human chondrocytes cultured on polycarbonate (PC) membranes with different micropore sizes (0.2-8.0 m in diameter). The adhesion and proliferation of chondrocytes were evaluated by measuring the number of attached cells after 1, 2, and 4 days of culture and morphological observations. It seems that the cell adhesion and proliferation were progressively inhibited, as the PC membranes had micropores with increasing size, probably due to surface discontinuities produced by track-etched pores. On the PC membrane with smaller micropore sizes, the cells seemed to override these surface discontinuities. Phenotype of chondrocyte was as-sessed by Safranin-O staining for anionic sulfated proteoglycans. Chondrocytes on the 8.0 m-diameter membrane surface proliferated, on 8 days, formed morphology of round shape, and expressed proteoglycans, because of limitation of spreading by the track-etched micropores. They maintained their phenotype under conditions that support a round cell shape on the large pore diameter substrate, whereas chondrocyte phenotypes lost on the small pore diameter membranes. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that micropore sizes as well as pore-to-pore distance play an important role for adhesion, proliferation, and phenotype of human articular chondrocytes.

Cell Adhesion to Ordered Pores: Consequences for Cellular Elasticity

“…So far, model substrates with defined pore geometry and distribution have rarely been used to obtain quantitative data on cell spreading and morphological details such as cytoskeleton development and elastic properties of the cell body [11,12]. Lee and coworkers [13,14] reported on fibroblasts cultured on track-etched micropores (0.2-8.0 µm) and found that cell adhesion and growth rate decreased gradually with increasing pore size, while Gold and coworkers introduced a model system based on microfabricated cell culture substrates consisting of interconnected channels [11,12]. They found that fibroblasts bridge 0.8-1.8 µm wide channels and that channel periodicity alters fibroblasts' morphology and attachment density.…”

“…Mechanical signals play a significant role in the signaling system regulating cell and tissue development as well as physiology. Surface stimuli encompass the viscoelasticity of the substrate, surface patterning, wettability, roughness, and porosity [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. So far, model substrates with defined pore geometry and distribution have rarely been used to obtain quantitative data on cell spreading and morphological details such as cytoskeleton development and elastic properties of the cell body [11,12].…”

Synthesis and 3D Printing of Biodegradable Polyurethane Elastomer by a Water‐Based Process for Cartilage Tissue Engineering Applications

“…The surface morphology of a scaffold may affect cell‐material interactions. For example, chondrocytes were reported to maintain round shape on the large micropores (>1 μm) . Pores lager than 1 μm could promote the proteoglycan production of chondrocytes .…”

Cell expansion of human articular chondrocytes on macroporous gelatine scaffolds—impact of microcarrier selection on cell proliferation

“…Tsai et al however reported that collagen scaffolds prepared in aqueous solutions had more hydrophilic surfaces than counterparts prepared in acetic acid (Tsai et al, 2002). The different cross-linking environments may potentially have affected other scaffold properties as well, such as surface porosity, micropore size or microtopography, factors known to influence cell-surface interactions, including initial adhesion, cell morphology and proliferation (Boyan et al, 1996;Costa Martinez et al, 2008;Curtis and Wilkinson, 1997;Lee et al, 1994). Naimark et al reported differences in mechanical and thermal behaviour of pericardial tissues following cross-linking by hexamethylene diisocyanate in different solvent environments (Naimark et al, 1995).…”

“…Microcarrier-based cell culture was first developed as a means to increase the surface area for anchorage-dependent cells, but has since developed into a unique field with a wide variety of microcarriers for cell culture and tissue engineering available (van Wezel, 1967;Kong et al, 1999;Malda and Frondoza, 2006). The choice of microcarrier can have significant effects on the outcome as biomaterial porosity, surface chemistry and surface topography can affect cell adhesion, morphology, phenotype and proliferation (Boyan et al, 1996;Chung et al, 2008;Costa Martinez et al, 2008;Curtis and Wilkinson, 1997;Kong et al, 1999;Lee et al, 1994;Wu et al, 2008). A porous structure enhances the available culture surface area further and interconnected pores enable cell migration as well as cell-cell signalling throughout the scaffold (Chung et al, 2008;Nilsson, 1988).…”