Bioactivity Comparison of Electrospun PCL Mats and Liver Extracellular Matrix as Scaffolds for HepG2 Cells

Cells grown on bioactive matrices have immensely advanced many aspects of biomedical research related to drug delivery and tissue engineering. Our main objective was to perform simple evaluation of the structural and biotic qualities of cell scaffolds made of affordable biomaterials for liver cell line (HepG2) cultivation in vitro. In this work the electrospun matrix made of synthetic polyester poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was compared with the natural protein-based extracellular matrix isolated from porcine liver (ECM). Mechanical and structural analysis showed that ECM was about 12 times less resistant to tensile stress while it had significantly larger pore size and twice smaller water contact angle than PCL. Bioactivity assessment included comparison of cell growth and transfection efficiency on cell-seeded scaffolds. Despite the differences in composition and structure between the two respective matrices, the rate of cell spreading and the percentage of transfected cells on both scaffolds were fairly comparable. These results suggest that in an attempt to produce simple, cell carrying structures that adequately simulate the natural scaffold, one can rely on PCL electrospun mats.