Liquid crystal elastomer foams with elastic properties specifically engineered as biodegradable brain tissue scaffolds.

Tissue regeneration requires 3-dimensional (3D) smart materials as scaffolds to promote transport of nutrients. To mimic mechanical properties of extracellular matrices, biocompatible polymers have been widely studied and a diverse range of 3D scaffolds have been produced. We propose the use of responsive polymeric materials to create dynamic substrates for cell culture, which goes beyond designing only a physical static 3D scaffold. Here, we demonstrated that lactone- and lactide-based star block-copolymers (SBCs), where a liquid crystal (LC) moiety has been attached as a side-group, can be crosslinked to obtain Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCEs) with a porous architecture using a salt-leaching method to promote cell infiltration. The obtained SmA LCE-based fully interconnected-porous foams exhibit a Young modulus of 0.23 ± 0.07 MPa and a biodegradability rate of around 20% after 15 weeks both of which are optimized to mimic native environments. We present cell culture results showing growth and proliferation of neurons on the scaffold after four weeks. This research provides a new platform to analyse LCE scaffold-cell interactions where the presence of liquid crystal moieties promotes cell alignment paving the way for a stimulated brain-like tissue.

Biocompatible 3D Liquid Crystal Elastomer Cell Scaffolds and Foams with Primary and Secondary Porous Architecture.

3D biodegradable and highly regular foamlike cell scaffolds based on biocompatible side-chain liquid crystal elastomers have been prepared. Scaffolds with a primary porosity characterized by spatially interlaced, interconnected microchannels or an additional secondary porosity featuring interconnected microchannel networks define the novel elastomeric scaffolds. The macroscale morphology of the dual porosity 3D scaffold resembles vascular networks observed in tissue. 3D elastomer foams show four times higher cell proliferation capability compared to conventional porous templated films and within the channels guide spontaneous cell alignment enabling the possibility of tissue construct fabrication toward more clinically complex environments.

Progressive loss of sensitivity to endothelium-derived growth inhibitors expressed by human melanoma cells during disease progression.

Tumor progression is frequently associated with changes in responsiveness of tumor cells to paracrine growth factors. A potential major source of such paracrine factors in solid tumors are endothelial cells since this type of cell can constitute a sizeable fraction of the cellular composition of solid tumors. As an initial step to examining the possible effects of endothelial cell-associated growth factors on tumor cell growth, a panel of human melanoma cell lines representative of different stages of tumor progression was employed for studies utilizing endothelial cell-derived growth modulators. Macrovascular or microvascular human endothelial cells from umbilical vein or from skin, respectively, inhibited melanoma cell growth in direct coculture experiments. The potency of this inhibitory effect diminished as a function of melanoma progression. Conditioned media from endothelial cell cultures mimicked the effect of the cell coculture experiments, suggesting the involvement of soluble growth factor(s). Approximately 50-75% of the conditioned media inhibitory effect was abrogated by addition of the neutralizing antibody to interleukin-6 (IL-6). Gel filtration chromatography revealed the presence of additional inhibitors in endothelial cell conditioned medium. Two peaks of activity were detected with apparent molecular weights of approximately 100-150 Kd and 20-30 Kd, the latter containing IL-6 activity. Whereas early-stage radial growth phase (RGP) primary tumor-derived melanoma cells were sensitive to at least three different endothelial products of high or low molecular weight (including IL-6), melanoma cells from more advanced metastatic lesions were resistant to the latter activities, and retained only partial sensitivity to the high molecular weight inhibitor. More advanced vertical growth phase (VGP) primary melanoma cell lines expressed intermediate inhibition-sensitive phenotypes. Thus human melanoma development appears to be associated with progressive loss of sensitivity to the growth inhibitory effects of IL-6 and other factors produced by endothelial cells. This is likely to be a result of a selection process when tumor cells are confronted with adjacent vasculature during the progress of tumor angiogenesis.

Expression and functional activity of P-glycoprotein in cultured cerebral capillary endothelial cells.

Analysis of a panel of endothelial cells passaged between 5 and 25 times and derived from various organs and species demonstrated that murine and porcine cerebral capillary endothelial cells actively excluded the fluorescent dye rhodamine 123, a substrate of P-glycoprotein. In addition, rhodamine 123 accumulation could be enhanced by the multidrug resistance chemosensitizer verapamil, known to reduce P-glycoprotein-mediated drug efflux. Cloned murine and porcine cerebral capillary endothelial cells were immunoreactive with the C219 monoclonal antibody to P-glycoprotein, and a C219 epitope-specific blocking peptide could abolish staining. The antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of vincristine, but not cis-platinum(II) diamminedichloride, were increased by the addition of either verapamil or cyclosporin A to brain endothelial cell cultures in a 72-h assay, as determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation and total protein measurement. Cyclosporin A was a more effective reversal agent than verapamil. Thus, a P-glycoprotein isoform may be constitutively expressed in brain endothelial cells in vitro and supports the available data on in situ immunohistochemical staining of P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier. In addition, these findings may indicate that one function of P-glycoprotein in vivo at the blood-brain barrier is the exclusion of xenobiotics from central nervous system tissues.