Patterning of Fibroblast and Matrix Anisotropy within 3D Confinement is Driven by the Cytoskeleton.

ABSTRACT: Effects of 3D confinement on cellular growth and matrix assembly are important in tissue engineering, developmental biology, and regenerative medicine. Polydimethylsiloxane wells with varying anisotropy are microfabicated using soft-lithography. Microcontact printing of bovine serum albumin is used to block cell adhesion to surfaces between wells. The orientations of fibroblast stress fibers, microtubules, and fibronectin fibrils are examined 1 day after cell seeding using laser scanning confocal microscopy, and anisotropy is quantified using a custom autocorrelation analysis. Actin, microtubules, and fibronectin exhibit higher anisotropy coefficients for cells grown in rectangular wells with aspect ratios of 1:4 and 1:8, as compared to those in wells with lower aspect ratios or in square

SUBMITTER: Serbo JV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5817161 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature