Electrohydrodynamic printing of sub-microscale fibrous architectures with improved cell adhesion capacity

A solution-based electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing strategy was developed to fabricate sub-microscale biopolymeric fibres to mimic the tiny architectures of native extracellular matrix (ECM) for enhanced cellular performance. It was found that when the working voltage was significantly reduced to 500 V, sub-microscale fibres as well as user-specific patterns with an average fibre size of 193 ± 51 nm can be stably EHD printed. The presented process is applicable to biocompatible polycaprolactone (PCL) for the fabrication of water-stable sub-microscale fibrous architectures. The resultant sub-microscale fibres exhibited unique capability to enhance cellular adhesion, spreading and orientation in comparison with conventional microscale fibres fabricated by conventional melt-based EHD printing. The EHD-printed fibres can be precisely stacked to form multilayer sub-microscale structures. The proposed solution-based EHD printing process provides a promising strategy to fabricate sub-microscale biopolymeric architectures that could be further functionalised by the incorporation of bioactive components for enhanced tissue regeneration.

本研究开发了一种基于溶液法的电流体动力（EHD）打印策略，用于制备亚微米级生物聚合物纤维，以模拟天然细胞外基质（ECM）的细微结构，从而提升细胞行为表现。研究发现，当工作电压大幅降至500 V时，可稳定实现亚微米级纤维以及定制化图案的打印，纤维平均尺寸为193 ± 51 nm。该工艺适用于生物相容性聚己内酯（PCL），可制备水稳定性亚微米级纤维结构。与传统基于熔融法的EHD打印制备的微米级纤维相比，本研究制备的亚微米级纤维展现出更强的促进细胞黏附、铺展及定向排列的独特能力。经EHD打印制备的纤维可精准堆叠形成多层亚微米级结构。本研究提出的溶液法EHD打印工艺为制备亚微米级生物聚合物结构提供了极具前景的策略，该结构可通过掺入生物活性成分实现进一步功能化，以更好地促进组织再生。