Bio-electrospraying is a safe technology for delivering human adipose-derived stem cells

Bio-electrospraying (BES) is a technique for directly jetting living cells that has significant implications for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, the effect of BES on human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) remains unknown. Here, we show that an hASC suspension was successfully electrosprayed via a continuous, stable and linearly directed electrospray at 10 kV and at 3 ml/h. Morphological observations and Trypan Blue and CCK-8 assays revealed that the cells remained viable and proliferated at a rate similar to that of the controls (0 kV). However, at 20 kV, BES became unstable and cell viability was reduced. Moreover, hASCs electrosprayed at 10 kV retained their multilineage potential, successfully differentiating into chondrogenic, osteogenic and neurogenic lineages. Thus, BES does not significantly affect cell morphology, viability or multipotency.