Fabrication and Plasma Surface Activation of Aligned Electrospun PLGA Fiber Fleeces with Improved Adhesion and Infiltration of Amniotic Epithelial Stem Cells Maintaining their Teno-inductive Potential
Mohammad El Khatib,
Annunziata Mauro,
Ralf Wyrwa,
Miriam Di Mattia,
Maura Turriani,
Oriana Di Giacinto,
Björn Kretzschmar,
Thomas Seemann,
Luca Valbonetti,
Paolo Berardinelli,
Matthias Schnabelrauch,
Barbara Barboni,
Valentina Russo
Affiliations
Mohammad El Khatib
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Annunziata Mauro
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Ralf Wyrwa
Department of Biomaterials, INNOVENT e. V., 07745 Jena, Germany
Miriam Di Mattia
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Maura Turriani
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Oriana Di Giacinto
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Björn Kretzschmar
Department of Surface Engineering, INNOVENT e. V., 07745 Jena, Germany
Thomas Seemann
Department of Surface Engineering, INNOVENT e. V., 07745 Jena, Germany
Luca Valbonetti
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Paolo Berardinelli
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Matthias Schnabelrauch
Department of Biomaterials, INNOVENT e. V., 07745 Jena, Germany
Barbara Barboni
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Valentina Russo
Unit of Basic and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Electrospun PLGA microfibers with adequate intrinsic physical features (fiber alignment and diameter) have been shown to boost teno-differentiation and may represent a promising solution for tendon tissue engineering. However, the hydrophobic properties of PLGA may be adjusted through specific treatments to improve cell biodisponibility. In this study, electrospun PLGA with highly aligned microfibers were cold atmospheric plasma (CAP)-treated by varying the treatment exposure time (30, 60, and 90 s) and the working distance (1.3 and 1.7 cm) and characterized by their physicochemical, mechanical and bioactive properties on ovine amniotic epithelial cells (oAECs). CAP improved the hydrophilic properties of the treated materials due to the incorporation of new oxygen polar functionalities on the microfibers’ surface especially when increasing treatment exposure time and lowering working distance. The mechanical properties, though, were affected by the treatment exposure time where the optimum performance was obtained after 60 s. Furthermore, CAP treatment did not alter oAECs’ biocompatibility and improved cell adhesion and infiltration onto the microfibers especially those treated from a distance of 1.3 cm. Moreover, teno-inductive potential of highly aligned PLGA electrospun microfibers was maintained. Indeed, cells cultured onto the untreated and CAP treated microfibers differentiated towards the tenogenic lineage expressing tenomodulin, a mature tendon marker, in their cytoplasm. In conclusion, CAP treatment on PLGA microfibers conducted at 1.3 cm working distance represent the optimum conditions to activate PLGA surface by improving their hydrophilicity and cell bio-responsiveness. Since for tendon tissue engineering purposes, both high cell adhesion and mechanical parameters are crucial, PLGA treated for 60 s at 1.3 cm was identified as the optimal construct.
