GUIDANCE OF CELL ADHESION,ALIGNMENT, INFILTRATION, AND DIFFERENTIATION ON ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBROUS SCAFFOLDS - Intelligent Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine - page 212

artificial niche for ex vivo manipulation of stem cells. Christopher-
son et al . demonstrated that fiber diameter is an important para-
meter that affects adhesion, spreading, migration, proliferation, and
lineage specification of the NSC under expansion and differentia-
tion conditions. 30 As the fiber diameter increased, the NSC showed
reduced migration, spreading, and proliferation in the presence of
FGF-2 and a serum-free medium. Accumulated evidence suggests
thatelectrospunnanofibrousscaffoldscanpartiallymimicthetopo-
graphical features of the natural ECM and influence cellular differ-
entiation.
10.4 Summary
Electrospinning has evolved as a powerful tool in tissue engineer-
ing. This fabrication technology provides the ability to control bio-
materialcomposition,fiberdiameter,fiberalignment,geometry,and
drug/protein incorporation into a scaffold. Nanofibers generated
by electrospinning are able to support the adhesion and prolifer-
ation of a wide variety of cell types (Table 10.2); moreover, the
cells are able to maintain their phenotypic and functional char-
acteristics on nanofibrous scaffolds. Additionally, a growing body
of evidence demonstrates that micro- to nano-scaled topography
plays an important role in controlling the adhesion, proliferation,
and survival of adult and embryonic stem cells in culture. 44 There-
fore,electrospunnanofibrousscaffoldscanserveasatoolforstudy-
ing the topographical aspects of cellular interactions that would
lead to improved tissue formation. Furthermore, these scaffolds
can be functionalized by adding biochemical and mechanical cues
to enhance cellular interactions for tissue engineering applications
(Figure 10.7). However, specific interactionsbetweencells andelec-
trospun scaffolds functionalized through surface modifications and
bioactivefactorincorporationarestillpoorlyunderstood.Anunder-
standing of the specific cues that enhance cell adhesion, prolifera-
tion, and guidance of cells seeded on a scaffold, as well as cues that
couldaffecthostcellinfiltration,differentiation,andvascularization
in vitro and in vivo ,iscrucialfortheadvancementoftissueengineer-
ing applications.