Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting

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

, Yi-hsuan Lee

, Keng-hui Lin

Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan,

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.