Nanostructured, highly aligned poly(hydroxy butyrate) electrospun fibers for differentiation of skeletal and cardiac muscle cells

Published in 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2011), pp. 3597–3600 · IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6090602

Summary

This conference paper investigates how the topography of electrospun poly(hydroxy butyrate) (PHB) scaffolds guides the differentiation of skeletal and cardiac muscle-like cells. The authors produced novel, highly aligned (anisotropic) PHB nanofibre matrices and compared them against isotropic (randomly oriented) fibres and flat substrates without topographical cues. After characterising the matrices by scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing, they cultured the two muscle cell types on each substrate and assessed differentiation at several time points using myogenin and F-actin staining. The aligned nanofibres were found to promote differentiation of both cell types more effectively than the other substrates. The study also reports quantitative parameters for each cell line, clarifying which aspects of differentiation respond to fibre alignment.

Authors & Affiliations

  • Leonardo Ricotti Corresponding
    Center for MicroBioRobotics @ SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
  • Alessandro Polini
    Scuola Superiore ISUFI, Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy
  • Giada G. Genchi
    The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
  • Gianni Ciofani
    Center for MicroBioRobotics @ SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
  • Donata Iandolo
    NNL, National Nanotechnology Laboratory of Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, Lecce, Italy
  • Virgilio Mattoli
    Center for MicroBioRobotics @ SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
  • Arianna Menciassi
    Center for MicroBioRobotics @ SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
  • Paolo Dario
    Center for MicroBioRobotics @ SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
  • Dario Pisignano
    Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Innovazione, Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy

Topics

Muscle Tissue Engineering Fiber Alignment Cell Differentiation Biomimetic Scaffolds

Materials

Poly(hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)

Linari Electrospinning Systems

Electrospinning machines by Linari Nanotech
Linari Nanotech designs and manufactures electrospinning systems for nanofiber research and production — including rotating-drum collectors for aligned (anisotropic) scaffolds.
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