Human lung epithelial cells A549 epithelial-mesenchymal transition induced by PVA/Collagen nanofiber

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process by which epithelial cells lose their cell cell contact to become mesenchymal stem cells, which is important on development and embryogenesis, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. This research aims to investigate the effect of topological cue as modulating factor on the EMT by tuning the diameter of electrospinning nanofiber. The cell-nanofiber interaction between human lung epithelial cell A549 and electrospinning nanofibers composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and type I collagen were investigated. The electrospinning of regenerated PVA/Collagen nanofibers were performed with water/acetic acid as a spinning solvent and glutaraldehyde as a chemical cross linker. Parameterization on concentration, applied voltage and feeding rate was finalized to generate smooth nanofibers with good homogeneity. The scanning electron microscopy result demonstrated that A549 cell appropriately achieved extended morphology by the filopodia attaching to the surface of the nanofibrous mats. When the diameter changed from 90 nm to 240 nm, the A549 cell was correspondingly express varied EMT related genes. Gene expression analysis was conducted by qPCR using three typical markers for detecting EMT: N-cadherin (NCad), Vimentin (Vim), and Fibronectin (Fib). An increasing expression pattern was observed on cell culturing on 170 nm sample with respect to cell cultured on 90 nm and 240 nm. This result indicated the 170 nm PVA/Collagen nanofibers induce A549 cells to process epithelial mesenchymal transition more seriously than those on 90 nm or 240 nm. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.