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Bioactive Nanofiber Matrices Functionalized with Fibronectin‐Mimetic Peptides Driving the Alignment and Tubular Commitment of Adult Renal Stem Cells
Author(s) -
Sciancalepore Anna G.,
Moffa Maria,
Carluccio Simonetta,
Romano Luigi,
Netti Giuseppe S.,
Prattichizzo Clelia,
Pisignano Dario
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201500370
Subject(s) - stem cell , extracellular matrix , nanofiber , fibronectin , tissue engineering , scaffold , embryonic stem cell , induced pluripotent stem cell , surface modification , microbiology and biotechnology , regenerative medicine , materials science , chondrogenesis , chemistry , nanotechnology , biophysics , biomedical engineering , biochemistry , biology , medicine , gene
Bioactive, electrospun polymer nanofibers (NFs) are attractive building‐block materials for realizing scaffolds for tissue engineering, as these filaments structurally mimic the hierarchical organization of natural extracellular matrix. As presented in this article, demonstrated applications involve the commitment to adipogenic, chondrogenic, osteogenic, neural lineages, and so on, by different types of stem cells obtained from various sources (adult, embryonic, induced pluripotent stem cells, etc.). Since a poor cellular colonization may limit the usefulness of scaffolds for culturing delicate stem cell populations, coupling NFs with cell‐adhesive domains is highly desirable. In our work, the surface of either isotropic (randomly oriented) or anisotropic (highly aligned) electrospun poly( l ‐lactic acid) fibrous scaffolds with fibronectin (FN)‐mimetic peptides is tailored. The effects of the peptide immobilization on the adhesion and spreading of human, adult renal stem cells are investigated. Functionalized, aligned NFs are suitable scaffolds to promote the confluent growth of stem cells and to enhance their differentiation toward the tubular epithelial lineage. It is anticipated that the functionalization of aligned NFs with FN‐mimetic peptides might be a promising method to target a specific response of stem cells in renal tissue engineering.