File(s) under permanent embargo
Reason: This item is currently closed access.
Self-organization of skin cells in three-dimensional electrospun polystyrene scaffolds
journal contribution
posted on 2017-05-12, 13:36 authored by Tao SunTao Sun, Shaoming Mai, David Norton, John W. Haycock, Anthony J. Ryan, Sheila MacNeilMuch research in tissue engineering focuses on the synthesis of complex three-dimensional polymer
scaffolds containing functional biomolecules to which cells are introduced. Typical scaffolds for skin
tissue engineering are macroscopically porous with struts or fibers 10 m thick at a packing fraction
of 0.1. We made a polystyrene scaffold without cell signaling or spatial information by electrospinning
and studied the growth of skin fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and endothelial cells, as single
and cocultured populations in the presence and absence of fetal calf serum. In the absence of
serum, keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells did not grow when cultured alone. However,
when fibroblasts were cocultured with keratinocytes and endothelial cells, expansion of keratinocytes
and endothelial cells occurred even in the absence of serum. Furthermore, cells displayed native
spatial three-dimensional organization when cultured at an air–liquid interface, even when all three
cell types were introduced at random to the scaffold. This study shows that coculture with fibroblasts
enables keratinocytes and endothelial cells to proliferate without serum, but also to self-organize
according to the native epidermal–dermal structure given the symmetry-breaking field of an
air–liquid interface.
History
School
- Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
- Chemical Engineering