title: Mechanical stimulation of fibroblasts in micro-channeled bacterial cellulose scaffolds enhances production of oriented collagen fibers.
abstract: Cellulose perforated by micro-channels (Ø ~500 μm) has been investigated as a potential future scaffold material for meniscus implants. Scaffolds seeded with 3T6 fibroblasts were cultivated with mechanical stimulation in a compression bioreactor for enhanced collagen production. Constructs under dynamic compression at a frequency of 0.1 Hz and compression strain of 5% were compared to static cultures used as controls. The three-dimensional distributions of collagen fibers and fibroblasts in the cellulose scaffolds were studied under native, soft-matter conditions by combined second harmonic generation and coherent antiStokes Raman scattering microscopy, requiring no artificial sample preparation. Results showed that the micro-channels facilitated the alignment of cells and collagen fibers and that collagen production was enhanced by mechanical stimulation. Thus, cell-seeded, micro-channeled cellulose scaffolds provided guided tissue growth required to obtain an ultrastructure mimicking that of the meniscus.
authors.affiliation: Biopolymer Technology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brackmann
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Enejder
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gatenholm
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism*; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000737:chemistry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
chemical_list: D002482:Cellulose; D003094:Collagen