Nanofibrillar Hydrogels by Temperature Driven Self-Assembly: New Structures for Cell Growth and Their Biological and Medical Implications

Nanofibrillar structures are of importance in biomedicine, including lung, cardiovascular, liver, skin, neuroscience research, and tissue engineering. Developing advanced materials and interfaces should contribute to uncovering the mechanisms of diseases aiming to find cure. The similarity between the extracellular matrix (ECM) of soft tissue and hydrogels, characterized by a high water-content viscoelastic polymeric fiber, has stimulated the development of hydrogels for biomedical applications. However, most hydrogels have a meshy structure resulting in poor cell adhesion properties. Here, fabrication of gellan gum (GG) hydrogels arranged by thermally driven self-assembly into a network of nanofibers is reported. Mechanical properties of such nanofibrillar hydrogels are analyzed on micro- and macroscales. As a result, and in sharp contrast to commonly produced meshy GG hydrogels, the nanofiber-based hydrogels facilitate the adherence and lead to proliferation of cells. This is assigned to microstructural rearrangements characterized by a changing density and pore size decrease, accompanied with a lower water content. Cell growth on such nanofibrillar structures is investigated for osteoblasts, which are chosen as a model system. The developed nanofibrous interfaces in this study are envisioned to be applicable for growing various types of cells and they should contribute to better understanding cell interactions with ECM.

Automated summary

Nanofiber hydrogels show better cell adhesion properties and cell proliferation compared to conventional meshy hydrogels, making them potentially applicable for various cell types and contributing to a better understanding of cell interactions with ECM.