eXPRESS Polymer Letters (Jul 2019)

3D scanning probe nanotomography of tissue spheroid fibroblasts interacting with electrospun polyurethane scaffold

  • A. E. Efimov,
  • O. I. Agapova,
  • L. A. Safonova,
  • M. M. Bobrova,
  • V. A. Parfenov,
  • E. V. Koudan,
  • F. D. A. S. Pereira,
  • E. A. Bulanova,
  • V. A. Mironov,
  • I. I. Agapov

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3144/expresspolymlett.2019.53
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 7
pp. 632 – 641

Abstract

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We present a 3D study of nanostructural features of a bioprinted tissue spheroid interacting with polyurethane dual-scale biocompatible scaffold manufactured by three-dimensional printing and electrospinning. Three-dimensional analysis of fibroblasts interacting with electrospun polyurethane fibers was conducted using scanning probe nanotomography with an experimental setup combining ultramicrotome and a scanning probe microscope. Three-dimensional reconstruction demonstrates direct visualization of cell membrane protrusions and coherent cell-fiber interfaces, the formation of which is a prerequisite for an efficient tissue engineered implant. Analysis of obtained 3D data allows for quantitative calculation of the important morphological parameters of adhered cells, scaffolds, and cell-scaffold interfaces. The proposed method may be successfully applied to investigate 3D cell-scaffold constructs at nanoscale.

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