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Aligned electrospun scaffolds and elastogenic factors for vascular cell‐mediated elastic matrix assembly
Author(s) -
Bashur Chris A.,
Ramamurthi Anand
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.835
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1932-7005
pISSN - 1932-6254
DOI - 10.1002/term.470
Subject(s) - elastin , extracellular matrix , microbiology and biotechnology , matrix (chemical analysis) , tissue engineering , vascular smooth muscle , cell , chemistry , electrospinning , biophysics , smooth muscle , biomedical engineering , biology , biochemistry , engineering , polymer , endocrinology , genetics , organic chemistry , chromatography
Strategies to enhance the production of organized elastic matrix by smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are critical in engineering functional vascular conduits. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the effect of different surfaces, i.e. random and aligned electrospun poly( ε ‐caprolactone) meshes and two‐dimensional (2D) controls, and exogenous elastogenic factors on the cultured rat aortic SMC phenotype and production of extracellular matrix. This study demonstrated that aligned electrospun fibres guide cell alignment, induce a more elongated cell morphology and promote a more synthetic phenotype. Importantly, these cells produced greater amounts of elastin‐rich matrix per cell on the electrospun scaffolds. In addition, exogenous elastogenic factors severely limited rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) proliferation and promoted a more synthetic SMC phenotype on electrospun meshes, but they had less effect on 2D controls. Finally, the elastogenic factors induced the SMCs to generate more matrix collagen and elastin on a per cell basis. Together, these results demonstrate the elastogenic benefits of electrospun meshes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.