Construction of hybrid spheroids of ECM-modified nanofibers and mesenchymal stem cells for enhancing cell viability

Prakash Shrestha¹, Shiva Pathak¹, Shobha Regmi¹, Le Phuong Tran¹, Chul Soon Yong¹, Jong Oh Kim¹, and Jee-Heon Jeong¹

¹College of Pharmacy, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, 38541, Republic of Korea

ABSTRACT

Nanofibers have long been applied for tissue engineering and biomedical studies. Owing to similar morphology as compared to extracellular matrix (ECM) and the possibility of drug encapsulation inside the nanofibers, nanofibers can be applied for drug and cell delivery. In this study, we encapsulated a reactive oxygen species scavenger, curcumin, in the nanofibers that were formulated using electrospinning method. Since, synthetic polymeric formulations lack effective hydrophilicity to interact with cells, we conjugated collagen on the surface of the nanofibers using polydopamine and  developed the hybrid spheroids comprised of the engineered drug encapsulated nanofibers and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) using hanging drop method. Our results revealed an enhanced viability of the MSC when they were spontaneously-aggregated with the ECM-modified nanofibers. Therefore, ECM-mimicking drug-loaded nanofibers may be regarded as an attractive tools for enhancing viability of MSC.

Keywords: nanofibers, hybrid spheroids, extracellular matrix, cell viability