title: A Flow Perfusion Bioreactor System for Vocal Fold Tissue Engineering Applications.
abstract: The human vocal folds (VFs) undergo complex biomechanical stimulation during phonation. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a phono-mimetic VF flow perfusion bioreactor, which mimics the mechanical microenvironment of the human VFs in vitro. The bioreactor uses airflow-induced self-oscillations, which have been shown to produce mechanical loading and contact forces that are representative of human phonation. The bioreactor consisted of two synthetic VF replicas within a silicone body. A cell-scaffold mixture (CSM) consisting of human VF fibroblasts, hyaluronic acid, gelatin, and a polyethylene glycol cross-linker was injected into cavities within the replicas. Cell culture medium (CCM) was perfused through the scaffold by using a customized secondary flow loop. After the injection, the bioreactor was operated with no stimulation over a 3-day period to allow for cell adaptation. Phonation was subsequently induced by using a variable speed centrifugal blower for 2 h each day over a period of 4 days. A similar bioreactor without biomechanical stimulation was used as the nonphonatory control. The CSM was harvested from both VF replicas 7 days after the injection. The results confirmed that the phono-mimetic bioreactor supports cell viability and extracellular matrix proteins synthesis, as expected. Many scaffold materials were found to degrade because of challenges from phonation-induced biomechanical stimulation as well as due to biochemical reactions with the CCM. The bioreactor concept enables future investigations of the effects of different phonatory characteristics, that is, voice regimes, on the behavior of the human VF cells. It will also help study the long-term functional outcomes of the VF-specific biomaterials before animal and clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Latifi
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Hossein K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Heris
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University , Provo, Utah.
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Rani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Taher
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Siavash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kazemirad
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sheibani
authors.affiliation: 4 School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Nicole Y K
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Li-Jessen
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Hojatollah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vali
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University , Montreal, Canada .
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mongeau
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010477:Perfusion; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology