3.8 Article

Integrating Microstructured Electrospun Scaffolds in an Open Microfluidic System for in Vitro Studies of Human Patient-Derived Primary Cells

Journal

ACS BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
Volume 6, Issue 6, Pages 3649-3663

Publisher

AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00352

Keywords

polydimethylsiloxane; surface treatments; electrospun scaffolds; mammary luminal cells; preclinical screening

Funding

  1. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
  2. Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research CNR-MIUR Flagship Project Nanomax
  3. Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research CNR-MIUR Flagship Project Epigen
  4. Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research CNR-MIUR Flagship Project Interomics
  5. FRRB [LYRA_2015-00100]
  6. Fondo per gli Investimenti della Ricerca di Base, Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research FIRB-MIUR project Newton [RBAP11BYNP_003]
  7. Academia Servorum Scientiae

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Recent studies have suggested that microenvironmental stimuli play a significant role in regulating cellular proliferation and migration, as well as in modulating self-renewal and differentiation processes of mammary cells with stem cell (SCs) properties. Recent advances in micro/nanotechnology and biomaterial synthesis/engineering currently enable the fabrication of innovative tissue culture platforms suitable for maintenance and differentiation of SCs in vitro. Here, we report the design and fabrication of an open microfluidic device (OMD) integrating removable poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) based electrospun scaffolds, and we demonstrate that the OMD allows investigation of the behavior of human cells during in vitro culture in real time. Electrospun scaffolds with modified surface topography and chemistry can influence attachment, proliferation, and differentiation of mammary SCs and epigenetic mechanisms that maintain luminal cell identity as a function of specific morphological or biochemical cues imparted by tailor-made fiber post-treatments. Meanwhile, the OMD architecture allows control of cell seeding and culture conditions to collect more accurate and informative in vitro assays. In perspective, integrated systems could be tailor-made to mimic specific physiological conditions of the local microenvironment and then analyze the response from screening specific drugs for more effective diagnostics, long-term prognostics, and disease intervention in personalized medicine.

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