FABRICATION OF TISSUE ENGINEERING SCAFFOLDS BY ELECTROSPINNING TECHNIQUES - Intelligent Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine - page 225

protrusions, and alignment degree of the fibers could be controlled
by the area of protrusions on the collectors. 26
11.4 Two-Dimensional Electrospun Fibrous Membranes
Compared with the limited application of one-dimensional (1D)
electrospun fibrous bundles, in tissue engineering, 2D electrospun
fibrous membranesare much more widely used.
The prototype of 2D electrospun fibrous membranes was
prepared using flat collecting plates and thus had a randomly
distributed fibrous structure with relatively poor mechanical
properties. 27 , 28 For more than a decade, researchers proved that
specifictopologicalarchitecturescouldpromotefavorablebiological
responses in tissue regeneration, such as enhanced protein adsorp-
tion, as well as enhanced cell attachment, proliferation, and rate of
movement. 29 Since native ECMs found in tissues or organs have a
defined architecture, which is significant for tissue function, efforts
have been made to explore materials with ordered microstructures
and patterns possessing specific functions. By using various elec-
trospinning setups, such as rotating disk collectors, parallel elec-
trodes, rotating wire drum collectors, etc. , scaffolds with aligned
nanofibers or simple patterns can be fabricated. 27 Several studies
have demonstrated the migration and proliferation of cells along
the direction of electrospun fiber alignment. 30 , 31 In the peripheral
nerve regeneration process, aligned nanofibrous scaffolds had the
ability to direct axonal outgrowth and glial cell migration. 32 Xu et
al. developed an aligned nanofibrous scaffold via electrospinning of
apoly(L-lactide-co- ε -caprolactone)(PLCL,75:25)copolymer. 31 They
foundthattheadhesionandproliferationofcoronaryarterysmooth
muscle cells were improved compared with plane polymer films,
and they were able to migrate along the axis of the aligned fibers.
Furthermore, proteins comprising the cytoskeleton of the smooth
muscle cells were aligned parallel to the aligned fibers, demonstrat-
ing the cells' proclivity to organize along oriented fiber topography.
All the results lead to the same conclusion that a nanofibrous scaf-
foldcontainingalignedfibersisafavorablestructureinorientedcell
growth.