Electrospining Machine: Electrospinning oriented SF/magnetic nanoparticle-co-mixed nanofiber scaffolds induce orientation and differentiation of adult skeletal muscle cells

Background

Skeletal muscle is an important component of the locomotor system and is capable of regenerating after minor injuries. However, severe muscle injuries often exceed their natural regenerative capacity, leading to chronic functional deficits. Emerging research highlights anisotropic materials as promising candidates for skeletal muscle tissue engineering because of their structural and functional similarity to natural tissues.

The main point of this paper

Advantages of electrospinning:

Beyond methods such as 3D printing and micropatterning, especially in the fabrication of highly aligned fiber scaffolds.

Electrospinning Features:

Cost-effective, scalable, suitable for large-scale production, and meets the demand for aligned fibers for tissue engineering.

Biocompatibility and biodegradability:

The polymers used in electrostatic spinning are biocompatible and biodegradable, enhancing their suitability in vivo.

Limitations of Polycaprolactone (PCL):

Hydrophobicity leads to reduced cell affinity and slow tissue formation, requiring surface modification or doping with bioactive materials.

Advantages of filipin (SF):

Biocompatible, mechanically strong, biodegradable, and has a hydrophilic surface that enhances cell adhesion and tissue growth.

Challenges of directional electrospinning:

Achieving oriented electrospinning nanofibers is challenging, and conventional techniques may be limited by the degree of alignment and collection rate.

Innovative Solutions:

A new method for preparing oriented tissue scaffolds was developed using a magnetic field collection device and Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the spinning solution.

Application of oriented SF nanofibers:

Well-aligned SF fibers constructed scaffolds with oriented structures, improved mechanical properties, and some magnetic responsiveness, effectively guiding cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation along the aligned fibers

Silk cellulose-based oriented nanofibrous scaffolds: application of electrospinning and magnetic response technology in skeletal muscle tissue engineering

Advantages of electrospinning technology:

Electrospinning technology outperforms methods such as 3D printing and micropatterning in the fabrication of highly aligned fibrous scaffolds due to its unique advantages, especially in anisotropic materials that mimic natural tissues

Applications of silk fibroin:

Silk fibroin (SF) is a versatile material for tissue engineering due to its biocompatibility, mechanical robustness and biodegradability

Limitations of conventional electrospinning:

The conventional method of silk fiber electrospinning produces randomly oriented fibers, limiting its efficacy

Challenges of directional electrospinning:

Realizing oriented Electrospun Nanofbers is relatively challenging, especially since techniques using high-speed targets or complex collectors may reduce the degree of alignment and collection rate due to repulsive residual charges and the insulating effect of previously deposited Electrospun Nanofbers

Innovative solutions:

A simple and effective method to fabricate oriented tissue scaffolds was developed by adding Fe3O4 nanoparticles to the spinning solution and utilizing a magnetic field collector device to successfully prepare aligned silk Electrospun Nanofbers scaffolds

Application of oriented SF scaffolds:

The aligned SF scaffolds not only improved the orientation and mechanical properties of the scaffolds, but also exhibited magnetic responsiveness, which effectively guided the mesenchymal stem cells to adhere, proliferate and differentiate into blood vessels along the fiber direction

Summarize

In conclusion, we successfully fabricated neatly aligned silk Electrospun Nanofbers using a magnetic field-assisted collection device with Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the spinning solution. These aligned Electrospun Nanofbers showed high tensile strength and elastic modulus along their orientation, which is favorable for cell proliferation and elongation. Importantly, the aligned silk Electrospun Nanofbers scaffolds promoted cell differentiation into vascular structures without additional inducers and guided the directional growth of C2C12 myoblasts along the direction of fiber alignment. In our study, the efficacy of the scaffolds in promoting C2C12 cell differentiation was comparable to other electrospinning techniques (42,43), albeit using a simpler fabrication process. These results suggest that our approach provides a simplified yet effective alternative for the production of scaffolds that achieves similar enhancement in C2C12 cell differentiation. Overall, these findings provide a solid foundation for the potential application of our scaffolds in skeletal muscle tissue engineering