Guiding Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Maturation Using Electrospun Fiber Cues in a 3D Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Culture System.

ABSTRACT: The current lack of therapeutic approaches to demyelinating disorders and injuries stems from a lack of knowledge surrounding the underlying mechanisms of myelination. This knowledge gap motivates the development of effective models to study the role of environmental cues in oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) maturation. Such models should focus on determining, which factors influence OPCs to proliferate and differentiate into mature myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs). Here, we introduce a hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel system composed of cross-linked HA containing encapsulated HA fibers with swollen diameters similar to mature axons (2.7 ± 0.2 μm). We tuned hydrogel storage moduli to simulate native brain tissue (200-2000 Pa) and studied the effects of fiber presence on OPC proliferatio

SUBMITTER: Mazur RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11815632 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature