Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting - June 28-July 1, 2015

New Biological Frontiers Illuminated by Molecular Sensors and Actuators

Poster Abstracts

34-POS Board 34 Tissue Cell Morphology and Organization in Three-Dimensional Scaffolds of Uniform and Ordered Pores Sriram Muthu Irulappan 1 , Yi-hsuan Lee 2 , Keng-hui Lin 2 . 1 Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, 2 Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. In this work, we fabricate novel gelatin scaffolds with uniform pores for 3D cell culture based on a rapid and economical microfluidic method. We cultured three different cell types namely MDCK, C2C12 and 3T3 with distinct epithelial, muscular and connective tissue origin respectively in the novel gelatin scaffolds and found those cells exhibiting morphological and physiological properties very relevant to their in vivo counterparts. Epithelial cells (MDCK) organized into characteristic cyst-like structures with apico-basal polarity confirmed by GP-135 and E-cadherin sub-cellular localization. Myoblasts (C2C12) exhibited marked aster-like linear pattern initially and on addition of differentiation medium formed thick myotubes with multiple nuclei. Fibroblasts (3T3) showed a vast range of morphologies which encouraged us to further investigate its properties when grown on scaffolds with various pore sizes. The cell shape appeared more elongated and exhibited higher number of focal adhesions in larger pore than the smaller pore. Also the cell volume increased with the increase in pore size. Further in smaller pore the actin appeared to be diffused whereas prominent stress fibers were visualized in the larger pore. The nuclear morphology was more spherical in the smaller pore which may affect cell proliferation rate. These findings highlight 3D cell organization and fibroblast behavior with respect to varying pore size promoting the systematic study of mechanical properties in tissue engineering and quantitative cellular mechanobiology.

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