Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, 199 Taikang East Road, Ningbo, 315100, China
  • 2 Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, Selangor, 43500, Malaysia
  • 3 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Lorong Asam Jawa 1, Serdang, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Dhaka, Bangladesh
PMID: 33826152 DOI: 10.1002/bab.2162

Abstract

Despite a lot of intensive research on cells-scaffolds interaction, focused are mainly on the capacity of construct scaffolds to regulate cell mobility, migration and cytotoxicity. The effect of the scaffold's topographical and material properties on the expression of biologically active compounds from stem cells is not well understood. In this study, the influence of cellulose acetate (CA) on the electrospinnability of gelatin and the roles of gelatin-cellulose acetate (Ge-CA) on modulating the release of biologically active compounds from amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs) is emphasized. It was found that the presence of a small amount of CA could provide a better microenvironment that mimics AFSCs' niche. However, a large amount of CA exhibited no significant effect on AFSCs migration and infiltration. Further study on the effect of surface topography and mechanical properties on AFSCs showed that the tailored microenvironment provided by the Ge-CA scaffolds had transduced physical cues to biomolecules released into the culture media. It was found that the AFSCs seeded on electrospun scaffolds with less CA proportions has profound effects on the secretion of metabolic compounds compared to those with higher CA contained and gelatin coating. The enhanced secretion of biologically active molecules by the AFSCs on the electrospun scaffolds was proven by the accelerated wound closure on the injured human dermal fibroblast (HDF) model. The rapid HDF cell migration could be anticipated due to a higher level of paracrine factors in AFSCs media. Our study demonstrates that the fibrous topography and mechanical properties of the scaffold is a key material property that modulates the high expression of biologically active compounds from the AFSCs. The discovery elucidates a new aspect of material functions and scaffolds material-AFSCs interaction for regulating biomolecules release to promote tissue regeneration/repair. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the scaffolds material-AFSCs interaction and the efficacy of scratch assays on quantifying the cell migration in response to the AFSCs metabolic products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.