Curvature-dependent behaviors of mesenchymal stem cells on the tubular scaffolds

Abstract

Therapeutic properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to have close relations with the stemness, but micromechanical environment to make the stemness retain has not been established so far. On the other hand, MSCs in vivo are reported to localize near and/or on the blood vessels, which has us infer a hidden effect of curvature of the tubular scaffolds on functional modulation in MSCs. In this study, to reveal the curvature-dependent modulation in stemness of MSCs, behaviors of them were analyzed on curvature-graded tubular scaffold. MSCs were seeded on a tapered glass tube coated with fibronectin. MSCs were aligned in parallel to the tube axis in the region thinner than radius of 50 um, while at random in the region thicker than 50 um. Interestingly, MSCs tended to accumulate around the tip of tube, suggesting a potential sensitivity for the curved microenvironments.