Abstract
Micro/sub-microscale fibrillar architectures of extracellular matrix play important roles in regulating cellular behaviors such as attachment, migration, and differentiation. However, the interactions between cells and organized micro/sub-microscale fibers have not been fully clarified yet. Here, the responses of MC3T3-E1 cells to electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printed scaffolds with microscale and/or sub-microscale fibrillar architectures were investigated to demonstrate their potential for bone tissue regeneration. Fibrillar scaffolds were EHD-fabricated with microscale (20.51 ± 1.70 μm) and/or sub-microscale (0.58 ± 0.51 μm) fibers in a controlled manner. The in vitro results showed that cells exhibited a 1.25-fold increase in initial attached cell number and 1.17-fold increase in vinculin expression on scaffolds with micro/sub-microscale fibers than that on scaffolds with pure microscale fibers. After 14 days of culture, the cells expressed 1.23 folds increase in collagen type I (COL-I) deposition compared with that on scaffolds with pure microscale fibers. These findings indicated that the EHD printed sub-microscale fibrous architectures can facilitate attachment and COL I secretion of MC3T3-E1 cells, which may provide a new insight to the design and fabrication of fibrous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.