title: Thickness-controllable electrospun fibers promote tubular structure formation by endothelial progenitor cells.
abstract: Controlling the thickness of an electrospun nanofibrous scaffold by altering its pore size has been shown to regulate cell behaviors such as cell infiltration into a three-dimensional (3D) scaffold. This is of great importance when manufacturing tissue-engineering scaffolds using an electrospinning process. In this study, we report the development of a novel process whereby additional aluminum foil layers were applied to the accumulated electrospun fibers of an existing aluminum foil collector, effectively reducing the incidence of charge buildup. Using this process, we fabricated an electrospun scaffold with a large pore (pore size >40 μm) while simultaneously controlling the thickness. We demonstrate that the large pore size triggered rapid infiltration (160 μm in 4 hours of cell culture) of individual endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and rapid cell colonization after seeding EPC spheroids. We confirmed that the 3D, but not two-dimensional, scaffold structures regulated tubular structure formation by the EPCs. Thus, incorporation of stem cells into a highly porous 3D scaffold with tunable thickness has implications for the regeneration of vascularized thick tissues and cardiac patch development.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Vascular Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, Medical Research Institute, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea ; Conversence Stem Cell Research Center, Medical Research Institute, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Kyu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Material Science, Pusan National University, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Yup
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Guan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Vascular Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, Medical Research Institute, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jun-Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Vascular Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, Medical Research Institute, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yeon-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Pusan National University, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ho-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Material Science, Pusan National University, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Han Seong
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Vascular Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, Medical Research Institute, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea ; Conversence Stem Cell Research Center, Medical Research Institute, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea ; Immunoregulatory Therapeutics Group in Brain Busan 21 Project, Department of Physiology, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Mo
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kwon
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D066026:Endothelial Progenitor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D016062:Porosity; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials
keywords: electrospinning; nanofibrous scaffold; stem cell; tunable thickness; vascularization