Electrospun Parallel, Crossed Fibers for Promoting Cell Adhesion and Migration

TL;DR

This study explores how the structure of electrospun fibers influences the behavior of skin cells, offering insights for tissue engineering.

Contribution

The study reveals how parallel and crossed fiber topography affects human skin fibroblast behavior, including migration and adhesion.

Findings

Cells elongate along single fibers and form cross-adhesions on closely spaced parallel fibers.

At fiber intersections, cells exhibit anchoring, turning, or bridging depending on spacing.

Cell migration path changes depend on lateral extension ability constrained by cell size.

Abstract

Electrospun fibers, possessing biomimetic characteristics similar to fibrous extracellular matrices, have attracted widespread attention as scaffold materials for skin tissue engineering. The topographical structure of electrospun fibers plays a critical role in determining cell behavior. However, the effects of fiber topography on human skin fibroblasts (HSFs) remain unclear. In this study, electrospinning technology was employed to investigate how parallel and crossed fiber architectures influence the spreading morphology, proliferation, and migration of HSFs. The results demonstrated that cells exhibited spindle-shaped elongation along single fibers; on closely spaced parallel fibers, cells formed cross-adhesions between adjacent fibers, with a fiber spacing of 30–60 μm serving as the threshold range for distinguishing individual cell behaviors. At fiber intersections, a characteristic spacing of 100 μm distinguished three distinct cellular responses: anchoring, turning, and bridging. The probability of a cell altering its preexisting migration path depended on its ability to extend laterally and reach adjacent fibers, which was constrained by the upper limit of the cell body’s minor axis. This study elucidated the unique role of the electrospun fiber topography in guiding cellular decision-making in complex microenvironments, provided important insights into topography-triggered cell migration, and highlighted the practical significance of material-guided strategies in tissue engineering.

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