A Unification of Nanotopography and Extracellular Matrix in Electrospun Scaffolds for Bioengineered Hepatic Models

Donor liver shortage is a crucial global public health problem as whole-organ transplantation is the only definitive cure for liver disease. Liver tissue engineering aims to reproduce or restore function through in vitro tissue constructs, which may lead to alternative treatments for active and chronic liver disease. The formulation of a multifunctional scaffold that has the potential to mimic the complex extracellular matrix (ECM) and their influence on cellular behavior, are essential for culturing cells on a construct. The separate employment of topographic or biological cues on a scaffold has both shown influences on hepatocyte survival and growth. In this study, we investigate both of these synergistic effects and developed a new procedure to directly blend whole-organ vascular perfusion-decellularized rat liver ECM (dECM) into electrospun fibers with tailored surface nanotopography. Water contact angle, tensile test, and degradation studies were conducted to analyze scaffold hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, and stability. The results show that our novel hybrid scaffolds have enhanced hydrophilicity, and the nanotopography retained its original form after hydrolytic degradation for 14 days. Human hepatocytes (HepG2) were seeded to analyze the scaffold biocompatibility. Cell viability and DNA quantification imply steady cell proliferation over the culture period, with the highest albumin secretion observed on the hybrid scaffold. Scanning electron microscopy shows that cell morphology was distinctly different on hybrid scaffolds compared to control groups, where HepG2 began to form a monolayer toward the end of the culture period; meanwhile, typical hepatic markers and ECM genes were also influenced, such as an increasing trend of albumin appearing on the hybrid scaffolds. Taken together, our findings provide a reproducible approach and utilization of animal tissue-derived ECM and emphasize the synergism of topographical stimuli and biochemical cues on electrospun scaffolds in liver tissue engineering.