Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite Alignment
Cell cultures aiming at tissue regeneration benefit from scaffolds with physiologically relevant elastic moduli to optimally trigger cell attachment, proliferation and promote differentiation, guidance and tissue maturation. Complex scaffolds designed with guiding cues can mimic the anisotropic natu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/19/11525 |
| _version_ | 1797478975666126848 |
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| author | Lena Mungenast Fabian Züger Jasmin Selvi Ana Bela Faia-Torres Jürgen Rühe Laura Suter-Dick Maurizio R. Gullo |
| author_facet | Lena Mungenast Fabian Züger Jasmin Selvi Ana Bela Faia-Torres Jürgen Rühe Laura Suter-Dick Maurizio R. Gullo |
| author_sort | Lena Mungenast |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cell cultures aiming at tissue regeneration benefit from scaffolds with physiologically relevant elastic moduli to optimally trigger cell attachment, proliferation and promote differentiation, guidance and tissue maturation. Complex scaffolds designed with guiding cues can mimic the anisotropic nature of neural tissues, such as spinal cord or brain, and recall the ability of human neural progenitor cells to differentiate and align. This work introduces a cost-efficient gelatin-based submicron patterned hydrogel–fiber composite with tuned stiffness, able to support cell attachment, differentiation and alignment of neurons derived from human progenitor cells. The enzymatically crosslinked gelatin-based hydrogels were generated with stiffnesses from 8 to 80 kPa, onto which poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) alignment cues were electrospun such that the fibers had a preferential alignment. The fiber–hydrogel composites with a modulus of about 20 kPa showed the strongest cell attachment and highest cell proliferation, rendering them an ideal differentiation support. Differentiated neurons aligned and bundled their neurites along the aligned PCL filaments, which is unique to this cell type on a fiber–hydrogel composite. This novel scaffold relies on robust and inexpensive technology and is suitable for neural tissue engineering where directional neuron alignment is required, such as in the spinal cord. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:39:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8791a9012c6647be8fd9df8fc61ca541 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:39:16Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-8791a9012c6647be8fd9df8fc61ca5412023-11-23T20:34:41ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672022-09-0123191152510.3390/ijms231911525Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite AlignmentLena Mungenast0Fabian Züger1Jasmin Selvi2Ana Bela Faia-Torres3Jürgen Rühe4Laura Suter-Dick5Maurizio R. Gullo6Institute for Chemistry and Bioanalytics, University of Applied Sciences FHNW, Hofackerstrasse 30, 4132 Muttenz, SwitzerlandInstitute for Medical Engineering and Medical Informatics, University of Applied Sciences FHNW, Hofackerstrasse 30, 4132 Muttenz, SwitzerlandInstitute for Medical Engineering and Medical Informatics, University of Applied Sciences FHNW, Hofackerstrasse 30, 4132 Muttenz, SwitzerlandInstitute for Chemistry and Bioanalytics, University of Applied Sciences FHNW, Hofackerstrasse 30, 4132 Muttenz, SwitzerlandDepartment of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg–IMTEK, Georges-Koehler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, GermanyInstitute for Chemistry and Bioanalytics, University of Applied Sciences FHNW, Hofackerstrasse 30, 4132 Muttenz, SwitzerlandInstitute for Medical Engineering and Medical Informatics, University of Applied Sciences FHNW, Hofackerstrasse 30, 4132 Muttenz, SwitzerlandCell cultures aiming at tissue regeneration benefit from scaffolds with physiologically relevant elastic moduli to optimally trigger cell attachment, proliferation and promote differentiation, guidance and tissue maturation. Complex scaffolds designed with guiding cues can mimic the anisotropic nature of neural tissues, such as spinal cord or brain, and recall the ability of human neural progenitor cells to differentiate and align. This work introduces a cost-efficient gelatin-based submicron patterned hydrogel–fiber composite with tuned stiffness, able to support cell attachment, differentiation and alignment of neurons derived from human progenitor cells. The enzymatically crosslinked gelatin-based hydrogels were generated with stiffnesses from 8 to 80 kPa, onto which poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) alignment cues were electrospun such that the fibers had a preferential alignment. The fiber–hydrogel composites with a modulus of about 20 kPa showed the strongest cell attachment and highest cell proliferation, rendering them an ideal differentiation support. Differentiated neurons aligned and bundled their neurites along the aligned PCL filaments, which is unique to this cell type on a fiber–hydrogel composite. This novel scaffold relies on robust and inexpensive technology and is suitable for neural tissue engineering where directional neuron alignment is required, such as in the spinal cord.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/19/11525neural cell guidingneurite alignmentelectrospinningfiber-hydrogel scaffold |
| spellingShingle | Lena Mungenast Fabian Züger Jasmin Selvi Ana Bela Faia-Torres Jürgen Rühe Laura Suter-Dick Maurizio R. Gullo Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite Alignment International Journal of Molecular Sciences neural cell guiding neurite alignment electrospinning fiber-hydrogel scaffold |
| title | Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite Alignment |
| title_full | Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite Alignment |
| title_fullStr | Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite Alignment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite Alignment |
| title_short | Directional Submicrofiber Hydrogel Composite Scaffolds Supporting Neuron Differentiation and Enabling Neurite Alignment |
| title_sort | directional submicrofiber hydrogel composite scaffolds supporting neuron differentiation and enabling neurite alignment |
| topic | neural cell guiding neurite alignment electrospinning fiber-hydrogel scaffold |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/19/11525 |
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