title: The role of the surface on microglia function: implications for central nervous system tissue engineering.
abstract: In tissue engineering, it is well accepted that a scaffold surface has a decisive impact on cell behaviour. Here we focused on microglia-the resident immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS)-and on their response to poly(trimethylene carbonate-co-ε-caprolactone) (P(TMC-CL)) fibrous and flat surfaces obtained by electrospinning and solvent cast, respectively. This study aims to provide cues for the design of instructive surfaces that can contribute to the challenging process of CNS regeneration. Cell morphology was evidently affected by the substrate, mirroring the surface main features. Cells cultured on flat substrates presented a round shape, while cells with elongated processes were observed on the electrospun fibres. A higher concentration of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor-α was detected in culture media from microglia on fibres. Still, astrogliosis is not exacerbated when astrocytes are cultured in the presence of microglia-conditioned media obtained from cultures in contact with either substrate. Furthermore, a significant percentage of microglia was found to participate in the process of myelin phagocytosis, with the formation of multinucleated giant cells being observed only on films. Altogether, the results presented suggest that microglia in contact with the tested substrates may contribute to the regeneration process, putting forward P(TMC-CL) substrates as supporting matrices for nerve regeneration.
authors.affiliation: INEB-Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Porto, Portugal Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Liliana R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.affiliation: INEB-Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Porto, Portugal Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Daniela N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Sciences and Materials Technology, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ambrosio
authors.affiliation: INEB-Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Porto, Portugal Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal apego@ineb.up.pt.
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Pêgo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002490:Central Nervous System; D004146:Dioxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D017628:Microglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004146:Dioxanes; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C016240:polycaprolactone; C059299:polytrimethylene carbonate
keywords: electrospinning; microglia; multinucleated giant cell; myelin; nerve tissue engineering; scaffold surface