{"title":"Instant formation of horizontally ordered nanofibrous hydrogel films and direct investigation of peculiar neuronal cell behaviors atop.","authors":"Jaeil Park, Thi Thuy Chau Nguyen, Su-Jin Lee, Sungrok Wang, Dongmi Heo, Dong-Hee Kang, Alexander Tipan-Quishpe, Won-June Lee, Jongwon Lee, Sung Yun Yang, Myung-Han Yoon","doi":"10.1186/s40824-023-00344-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hydrogels have been widely used in many research fields owing to optical transparency, good biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties, etc. Unlike typical hydrogels in the form of an unstructured bulk material, we developed aqueous dispersions of fiber-shaped hydrogel structures with high stability under ambient conditions and their application to various types of transparent soft cell culture interfaces with anisotropic nanoscale topography.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Nanofibers based on the polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylic acid mixture were prepared by electrospinning and hydrogelified to nano-fibrous hydrogels (nFHs) after thermal crosslinking and sulfuric acid treatment. By modifying various material surfaces with positively-charged polymers, negatively-charged superabsorbent nFHs could be selectively patterned by employing micro-contact printing or horizontally aligned by applying shear force with a wired bar coater.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The angular distribution of bar-coated nFHs was dramatically reduced to ± 20° along the applied shear direction unlike the drop-coated nFHs which exhibit random orientations. Next, various types of cells were cultured on top of transparent soft nFHs which showed good viability and attachment while their behaviors could be easily monitored by both upright and inverted optical microscopy. Particularly, neuronal lineage cells such as PC 12 cells and embryonic hippocampal neurons showed highly stretched morphology along the overall fiber orientation with aspect ratios ranging from 1 to 14. Furthermore, the resultant neurite outgrowth and migration behaviors could be effectively controlled by the horizontal orientation and the three-dimensional arrangement of underlying nFHs, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We expect that surface modifications with transparent soft nFHs will be beneficial for various biological/biomedical studies such as fundamental cellular studies, neuronal/stem cell and/or organoid cultures, implantable probe/device coatings, etc.</p>","PeriodicalId":9079,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Research","volume":"27 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":11.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10009932/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biomaterials Research","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40824-023-00344-3","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Hydrogels have been widely used in many research fields owing to optical transparency, good biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties, etc. Unlike typical hydrogels in the form of an unstructured bulk material, we developed aqueous dispersions of fiber-shaped hydrogel structures with high stability under ambient conditions and their application to various types of transparent soft cell culture interfaces with anisotropic nanoscale topography.
Method: Nanofibers based on the polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylic acid mixture were prepared by electrospinning and hydrogelified to nano-fibrous hydrogels (nFHs) after thermal crosslinking and sulfuric acid treatment. By modifying various material surfaces with positively-charged polymers, negatively-charged superabsorbent nFHs could be selectively patterned by employing micro-contact printing or horizontally aligned by applying shear force with a wired bar coater.
Results: The angular distribution of bar-coated nFHs was dramatically reduced to ± 20° along the applied shear direction unlike the drop-coated nFHs which exhibit random orientations. Next, various types of cells were cultured on top of transparent soft nFHs which showed good viability and attachment while their behaviors could be easily monitored by both upright and inverted optical microscopy. Particularly, neuronal lineage cells such as PC 12 cells and embryonic hippocampal neurons showed highly stretched morphology along the overall fiber orientation with aspect ratios ranging from 1 to 14. Furthermore, the resultant neurite outgrowth and migration behaviors could be effectively controlled by the horizontal orientation and the three-dimensional arrangement of underlying nFHs, respectively.
Conclusion: We expect that surface modifications with transparent soft nFHs will be beneficial for various biological/biomedical studies such as fundamental cellular studies, neuronal/stem cell and/or organoid cultures, implantable probe/device coatings, etc.
期刊介绍:
Biomaterials Research, the official journal of the Korean Society for Biomaterials, is an open-access interdisciplinary publication that focuses on all aspects of biomaterials research. The journal covers a wide range of topics including novel biomaterials, advanced techniques for biomaterial synthesis and fabrication, and their application in biomedical fields. Specific areas of interest include functional biomaterials, drug and gene delivery systems, tissue engineering, nanomedicine, nano/micro-biotechnology, bio-imaging, regenerative medicine, medical devices, 3D printing, and stem cell research. By exploring these research areas, Biomaterials Research aims to provide valuable insights and promote advancements in the biomaterials field.