Role of Nanofibrous Scaffold Geometry in Cellular Adhesion

The goal of this study was to investigate the kinetics of NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell adhesion and their actin cytoskeleton organization on different geometry electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibrous scaffolds. Cell adhesion kinetics was measured by MTS assay. Cells on beaded scaffolds, which are not uniform fibrous scaffolds, showed the lowest adhesion rate and the smallest cytoskeleoton organization in all experiments. For uniform fiber scaffolds, cell adhesion rate was a function of scaffold specific surface area (SSA). Cell adhesion rate increased with increasing SSA when scaffold SSA was higher than 7.13 μm⁻¹. Cell adhesion in high serum concentration culture medium was higher than in low serum concentration medium for all scaffolds. Results indicate that from 0–5% serum concentrations, cell adhesion at 4 or 8 hours were not significantly different between different geometry scaffolds. F-actin maximum projected area was quantified to indicate mature cell adhesion. Results indicate higher area for cells cultured in high serum concentration medium on 18.79 μm⁻¹ (SSA) scaffolds, and had higher values when cultured for 8 hrs compared to 24 hrs. 10% serum concentration and 18.79 μm⁻¹ (SSA) scaffolds are considered to be an optimum combination for enhanced cell adhesion.