ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 May 16. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b04136. [Epub ahead of print]

Synergistic Effects of Electrical Stimulation and Aligned Nanofibrous Microenvironment on Growth Behaviour of Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Jin L, Hu B, Li Z, Li J, Gao Y, Wang Z, Hao J.

Abstract

Incontrollable cellular growth behaviour is a significant issue that severely affects the functional tissue formation and cellular protein expression. Development of natural extracellular matrix (ECM) like biomaterials to present microenvironment cues for the regulation of cell responses can effectively overcome this problem. The external simulation and topological characteristics as guiding cues are capable of providing diverse influences on cellular growth. Herein, we developed two dimensional aligned conductive nanofibers (2D-ACNFs) by electrospinning process and surface polymerization, and provided the effects of both alignment and electrical stimulation (ES) on cellular response of human mesenchymal cells (hMSCs). The results of cellular response implied that the obtained 2D-ACNFs could offer a synergistic effect on hMSCs growth behaviour. The effects could not only promote hMSCs to contact each other and maintain cellular activity; but also provide positive promotion to regulate cellular proliferation. Moreover, these two cues have positive effect on collagen expression of hMSCs. Thus, we believe that the obtained 2D-ACNFs will have a broad application in biomedical field, such as cell culture with ES, directional induction for cell growth, and damaged tissue repair, etc.