The Effect of Laminin Surface Modification of Electrospun Silica Nanofiber Substrate on Neuronal Tissue Engineering

Abstract

In this study, we first synthesized a slow-degrading silica nanofiber (SNF2) through an electrospun solution with an optimized tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) to polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) ratio. Then, laminin-modified SNF2, namely SNF2-AP-S-L, was obtained through a series of chemical reactions to attach the extracellular matrix protein, laminin, to its surface. The SNF2-AP-S-L substrate was characterized by a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform–infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, and contact angle measurements. The results of further functional assays show that this substrate is a biocompatible, bioactive and biodegradable scaffold with good structural integrity that persisted beyond 18 days. Moreover, a synergistic effect of sustained structure support and prolonged biochemical stimulation for cell differentiation on SNF2-AP-S-L was found when neuron-like PC12 cells were seeded onto its surface. Specifically, neurite extensions on the covalently modified SNF2-AP-S-L were significantly longer than those observed on unmodified SNF and SNF subjected to physical adsorption of laminin. Together, these results indicate that the SNF2-AP-S-L substrate prepared in this study is a promising 3D biocompatible substrate capable of sustaining longer neuronal growth for tissue-engineering applications.

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

“…Moreover, lack of controllability on the orientation of adsorbed cell‐adhesive biomolecules is another drawback that highly decreases the efficiency of this method . Chen et al investigated the effects of physical adsorption and covalent attachment of laminin molecules on the surface of electrospun silica nanofibrous scaffolds (SNF2) . The physical coating was performed by immersing in laminin solution.…”

“…The chemical bonding was carried out by soaking in an ethanol solution with 3 m (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTS), then incubation of the APTS‐modified SNF2 in a cross‐linker solution, sulfo‐(succinimidyl‐4‐[ N ‐maleimidomethyl]cyclohexane‐1‐carboxylate) (SMCC), and finally immersion of the APTS–SMCC‐modified SNF2 in laminin solution. They confirmed that covalent attachment of laminin leads to constant neuritis extension and prolonged biochemical stimulation of PC12 cells, while the physical coating of laminin onto the surface of substrates failed to provide the same effect ( Figure A,B) …”

“…However, PC12 cells seeded on the surface of covalently coated SNF‐AP‐S‐L scaffolds (C4–C6) showed enhanced neurite outgrowth and higher potential to support neural differentiation compared with SNF2/L group (physically adsorbed surface) (C1–C3). Reproduced under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Copyright 2018, the authors, published by Molecular Diversity Preservation International.…”

Vertically-Aligned Functionalized Silicon Micropillars for 3D Culture of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cortical Progenitors

“…The compatibility of oxidized silicon or silicon nitride for in vitro functional studies on neurons has been already reported, nevertheless, this is the first study to report compatibility with hCPs [50]. Furthermore, contrary to other studies employing silicon uncoated surfaces, we used surface topographies coated with laminin to optimize cell adhesion as also been reported by others [51][52][53]. In addition, these results demonstrate that our silicon micropillar arrays can be functionalized according to the cells' needs.…”

A Single-Step Surface Modification of Electrospun Silica Nanofibers Using a Silica Binding Protein Fused with an RGD Motif for Enhanced PC12 Cell Growth and Differentiation

“…We have previously demonstrated a multi-step chemical reaction process to modify the surface of a silica nanofiber for assisting cell attachment and enhancing neuronal cell growth and differentiation [ 30 ]. To explore the possibility of grafting RGD onto silica nanofibers without introducing any cross-linking agents, we identified a published silica-binding protein (SB) [ 31 ] that could be used for one-step anchoring of RGD onto silica surfaces.…”