Aligned basement membrane-modified collagen scaffolds for skeletal muscle tissue engineering

Biomaterial scaffolds for repairing traumatic muscle injuries require restoration of both the anisotropic architecture and basement membrane extracellular matrix cues critical to normal muscle function. To address this need, we establish a collagen-glycosaminoglycan (CG) scaffold platform pairing an aligned pore microstructure, produced via directional freeze-drying, with basement membrane protein functionalization via carbodiimide crosslinking. Laminin and/or collagen IV are successfully tethered and retained within CG scaffolds over 7 days without significantly altering pore size or alignment, confirming stable protein functionalization and preservation of scaffold architecture. Human muscle progenitor cells show excellent viability and metabolic activity in all scaffold groups, with collagen IV functionalization significantly enhancing myotube number and fusion index. Toward establishing scaffold compatibility with non-myogenic support cells, we show that neural stem cells remain viable and metabolically active across all scaffold conditions. Overall, these findings highlight the combination of aligned scaffold architecture and collagen IV functionalization as potentially impactful for skeletal muscle tissue engineering.