Orienting Human Stem Cells ( hMSCs ) by Means of Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers

1. Orienting Human Stem Cells (hMSCs) by Means of Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers Investigators: M. Cho, Bioengineering; A. Yarin, C. M. Megaridis, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; E. Zussman, Technion-Israel Oriented Random • Cell orientation and adhesion control the functionality of natural and engineered tissues • Electrospinning is a low-cost technique which can produce polymer nanofibers aligned along a specific direction • Polymer nanofibers can be used to mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) features • Electrospun polymer nanofiber scaffolds are used to manipulate cell orientation and adhesion Cells: Green, Nanofibers: Red • Random and oriented polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous scaffolds produced using electrospinning • hMSCs were cultured and seeded on two scaffold types (random, oriented) • Orientations of hMSCs and nanofibers on random and oriented nanofibrous scaffold samples were measured via laser scanning confocal microscopy at different time points during an 18-day culture period • hMSC viability tests were performed to verify compatibility of the cells with the PCL • hMSCs adhered and oriented along PCL nanofibers • During long-term culture, hMSCs demonstrated no preferred orientation on random nanofibrous scaffolds; cells consistently aligned on oriented scaffolds • Oriented PCL nanofibrous scaffolds could be used to mimic the cell and ECM organization in the native tissue, such as muscle, tendon, and the superficial zone of articular cartilage • The fiber scaffold/hSMC approach holds promise for a variety of tissue engineering applications