Direct writing electrospinning of scaffolds with multi-dimensional fiber architecture for hierarchical tissue engineering
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1
MERLN Institute, Complex Tissue Regeneration, Netherlands
In the field of tissue engineering (TE), fabrication of scaffolds through additive manufacturing techniques (AMT), such as 3D printing, and post-seeding of cells, is a popular approach. 3D printed scaffolds can be easily and reproducibly fabricated with defined geometries. However, there are still limitations regarding the cell seeding process and in reproducing the exact dimensions and architecture of native tissues. Nanofibrous structures have emerged as suitable scaffolds for TE, due to their interesting properties such as extracellular matrix resemblance, high porosity, flexibility, high cell attachment and cell proliferation. Such scaffolds can be easily produced with electrospinning (ESP). However, during ESP, the chaotic nature of the electrified jet leads to an unpredictable deposition of the fibers. Thus, it is a challenge to achieve the same degree of design control as in AMT. To overcome these limitations, some strategies, such as near-field ESP or melt ESP, have been employed in order to allow direct writing (DW) with ESP. While near-field ESP is limited to single fiber fabrication and cannot yield large structures, melt ESP is dependent on the use of thermoplastic polymers. Lee et al[2]. also develop a DW solution ESP technique, which relied on substantial setup modification through the use of a side-wall and sharp-pin electrodes to induce a jet focusing effect. Here, we describe a novel DW technique, which does not require any special setup modification, besides a translational stage collector. It is based on the use of the electrified jet stable path region as the work frame for controlled fiber deposition. This technique was demonstrated with a PEOT/PBT solution, and through the sole tuning of the solution and working ESP parameters, it was possible to produce complex 3D multi-dimensional and ultrathin fibrous scaffolds with regular pore sizes. The fiber morphology and size can also be controlled by simply varying the ESP working parameters within the stable region. Using this technique, a scaffold mimicking the zonal organization of articular cartilage was fabricated as a proof-of-concept showing the ability to better mimic the peculiar zonal organization of this tissues (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The formation of cartilaginous tissue through the chondrogenic differentiation of seeded human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) was evaluated and compared with a conventional electrospun mesh. The DW scaffolds showed to direct the tissue organization and fibril matrix orientation in a zone dependent way, as opposition to the electrospun sheets, and comparative expression of chondrogenic markers revealed a substantial upregulation of Sox9 and ACAN on DW seeded scaffolds. The proposed method reveals a novel and simple way to produce 3D ultrathin fibrous scaffolds with tailor-made designs, which can have great potential in connective tissue engineering, where anisotropy is of importance, as is the example of articular cartilage.
References:
[1] Izadifar, Z., Chen, X. & Kulyk, W. Strategic design and fabrication of engineered scaffolds for articular cartilage repair. J. Funct. Biomater. 3, 799–838 (2012)
[2] Lee, J., Lee, S. Y., Jang, J., Jeong, Y. H. & Cho, D. W. Fabrication of patterned nanofibrous mats using direct-write electrospinning. Langmuir 28, 7267–7275 (2012)
Keywords:
Tissue Engineering,
3D scaffold
Conference:
10th World Biomaterials Congress, Montréal, Canada, 17 May - 22 May, 2016.
Presentation Type:
New Frontier Oral
Topic:
Electrospinning and related technologies
Citation:
Malheiro
A,
Chen
HH,
Wieringa
PP,
Mota
CM,
Truckenmuller
RR and
Moroni
LL
(2016). Direct writing electrospinning of scaffolds with multi-dimensional fiber architecture for hierarchical tissue engineering.
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Conference Abstract:
10th World Biomaterials Congress.
doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.00755
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Received:
27 Mar 2016;
Published Online:
30 Mar 2016.