The influence of substrate stiffness on the behavior and functions of Schwann cells in culture.
Solid tissues in the body possess a range of stiffness and provide cells with an instructive microenvironment. Scaffolds in tissue engineering should be rationally designed to become an adhesion substrate friendly to cells. Schwann cells are the principal glial cell in the peripheral nervous system and used as support cells for generating tissue-engineered nerve grafts. Although an important mechanical cue, substrate stiffness, has been documented to make significant effects on many types of cells cultured on the substrate, such a study for Schwann cells is still lacking. In this study, we investigated cell adhesion, survival, proliferation, migration, cytoskeleton, and neurotrophic actions of Schwann cells cultured on polyacrylamide gel substrates with different stiffness, and determined an optimal elastic modulus value for these substrates. Our data not only highlight the importance of substrate stiffness in the crosstalk between Schwann cells and surrounding microenvironment, but also introduce a new parameter, in addition to biocompatibility, biodegradability, and neuroaffinity, for designing scaffolds in nerve tissue engineering.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, 19 Qixiu Road, Nantong JS226001, PR China.
Yun
Y
Gu
Yawei
Y
Ji
Yahong
Y
Zhao
Yan
Y
Liu
Fei
F
Ding
Xiaosong
X
Gu
Yumin
Y
Yang
D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000502:physiology; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D000180:Acrylic Resins; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; C016680:polyacrylamide gels