Electrospun fibrous mats on lithographically micropatterned collectors to control cellular behaviors

Spatial arrangement of multiple cell types plays a critical role in maintaining the viability of cells and functionality of tissues. Micropatterning has been used to fabricate scaffolds to modulate cell distribution, growth, and functions for reconstructing the anisotropy in native tissues. In the current study, a glass substrate patterned with an electrically conductive circuit was prepared by lithography as a collector for electrospinning. Densely packed fibers were deposited on the top of silver strips and patterned fibrous mats were obtained with distinct ridge and groove areas. Orthogonal alignment was shown for fibers in the ridge and groove areas, and the pattern feature and fiber alignment were well maintained in the ridge during incubation of cells with patterned fibrous mats. Sequential confocal laser scanning from the top of cell-loaded fibrous mats indicated that a larger number of cells were spread in the ridge than that in the groove areas, and cells penetrated into the fibrous mats in the ridge. Microscopic observation and immunofluorescent staining indicated that cells and collagen deposition appeared to have distinct patterns on the fibrous scaffold and aligned along the directionality of fibers with an elongated morphology. It is concluded that lithography can provide the design flexibility of collectors with micrometer-scale precision patterning, and cells can be confined to precise locations, sizes, and shapes by the use of micropatterned fibrous scaffolds without any adverse effect on the cell viability and function. The results suggest the potential of patterned electrospun fibrous mats to construct complex tissues of well organized multiple cell types and with spatially distributed extracellular matrices.