Anisotropically Aligned Cell-Laden Nanofibrous Bundle Fabricated via Cell Electrospinning to Regenerate Skeletal...

For muscle regeneration, a uniaxially arranged micropattern is important to mimic the structure of the natural extracellular matrix. Recently, cell electrospinning (CE) has been tested to fabricate cell-laden fibrous structures by embedding cells directly into micro/nanofibers. Although homogenous cell distribution and a reasonable cell viability of the cell-laden fibrous structure fabricated using the CE process are achieved, unique topographical cues formed by an aligned fibrous structure have not been applied. In this study, a CE process to achieve not only homogeneous cell distribution with a high cell viability, but also highly aligned cells, which are guided by aligned alginate fibers is employed. To attain the aligned cell-laden fibrous structure, various processing conditions are examined. The selected condition is applied using C2C12 myoblast cells to ensure the biocompatibility and guidance of cell elongation and alignment. As a control, a cell-printed scaffold using a 3D bioprinter is used to compare the efficiency of cell alignment and differentiation of myoblasts. Highly arranged, multinucleated cell morphology is confirmed in the CE scaffold, which successively facilitates myogenic differentiation. It is believed that this study will be a new platform for obtaining cell alignment and will significantly benefit the efforts on muscle regeneration.