title: Computational study of the potential role of chemotaxis in enhancing the cell seeding of tissue engineering scaffolds.
abstract: Chemotaxis is a morphogenetic mechanism that consists of cell movement along a concentration gradient. Since cell adhesion is essential for cell migration and tissue integrity, and morphogenesis also involves chemotactic cell movement, we conducted a study of the influence of adhesion and chemotaxis on cell seeding of scaffolds. We built three-dimensional models of a cell aggregate, respectively of a cell suspension, in the vicinity of a porous scaffold that contained a chemoattractant substance. We assumed that the chemoattractant is released at a steady rate, creating a constant concentration gradient. To study the interplay of adhesion and chemotaxis, we simulated cell seeding using an algorithm based on the Metropolis Monte Carlo method. We varied the chemotactic strength, which describes the extent to which cells tend to move along the chemoattractant gradient. We found that, for the same energetic and geometric conditions, the distribution of cells within the scaffold hinges on the chemotactic strength. Our study suggests that cell seeding of tissue engineering scaffolds may be enhanced by incorporating chemoattractants of controlled release rate into the scaffold.
authors.affiliation: Department of Automation and Applied Informatics, "Politehnica" University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Andreea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robu
authors.affiliation: Department of Automation and Applied Informatics, "Politehnica" University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Lacramioara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stoicu-Tivadar
authors.affiliation: Department of Automation and Applied Informatics, "Politehnica" University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Nicolae
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Robu
authors.affiliation: Center for Modeling Biological Systems and Data Analysis, Department of Functional Sciences, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neagu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology*; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds