Nanoporous fibers of type-I collagen coated poly(l-lactic acid) for enhancing primary hepatocyte growth and function

Advanced scaffold materials are required for liver tissue engineering, to improve primary hepatocyte activity and hepatic function in vitro. The nanotopography of the scaffold material plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth and function. Therefore, in the current study, we developed a novel scaffold composed of type-I collagen coated nanoporous poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) fibers (nPFs) to provide a nanotopography with a combination of fibrous and porous features for the culture of primary hepatocytes. The interaction between the nanotopography and the hepatocytes was described by testing cell morphology, retention, activity and hepatic function over a 15 day culture period. Primary hepatocytes cultured on the nPFs formed large-area stable immobilized monolayers after 3 days of culture, and displayed excellent cell bioactivity with higher levels of liver-specific function maintenance, in terms of albumin secretion, urea synthesis, and CYP1A and UGT enzymatic activity, than those cultured on type-I collagen coated non-porous PLLA fibers (Fs). These results indicate that the combined fibrous and porous nanotopography of nPFs has a superior promoting effect on primary hepatocyte culture compared to the non-porous fibrous nanotopography of Fs. The nPFs may be a suitable material for liver tissue engineering research and potential therapeutic applications, such as in bioartificial liver devices, and as a substrate for primary hepatocyte culture.