Hyaluronic Acid-Coated Melt Electrowritten Scaffolds Promote Myoblast Attachment, Alignment, and Differentiation

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Anisotropic cell alignment is crucial for muscle tissue development and function.
• Biomaterials for muscle tissue engineering must promote cell alignment, proliferation, and differentiation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and evaluate aligned poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) microfibers coated with hyaluronic acid (HA) and arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide for muscle tissue engineering.
• To assess the impact of scaffold coatings on myoblast attachment, alignment, and myogenic differentiation.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of aligned PCL microfibers using melt electrowriting (MEW).
• Coating of PCL scaffolds with dynamic covalent hydrazone crosslinked HA, functionalized with RGD peptide.
• Evaluation of cell attachment, alignment, and differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts on coated and non-coated scaffolds using immunocytochemistry and creatine kinase activity assays.

Main Results:

• HA-coated and HA-RGD-coated scaffolds significantly increased C2C12 myoblast attachment compared to non-coated scaffolds.
• All scaffolds supported anisotropic cellular alignment along the microfibers.
• HA-RGD-coated scaffolds promoted enhanced myotube formation and differentiation, indicated by myosin heavy chain (MHC) staining and creatine kinase (CK) activity.

Conclusions:

• The developed biomimetic scaffold, combining tunable biophysical and biochemical cues, supports myoblast alignment and differentiation.
• This platform offers potential for novel therapeutic strategies in muscle regeneration.