Author(s): Calejo, Isabel ; Labrador-Rached, Claudia J. ; Gomez-Florit, Manuel ; Docheva, Denitsa ; Reis, R. L. ; Domingues, Rui Miguel Andrade ; Gomes, Manuela E.
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/79294
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Electrospun microfibers; Tendon; Tissue models; 3D multiplex models; composite living fibers; in vitro models; tendons; tissue engineering
Clinically relevant in vitro models of human tissue's health and disease are urgently needed for a better understanding of biological mechanisms essential for the development of novel therapies. Herein, physiological (healthy) and pathological (disease) tendon states are bioengineered by coupling the biological signaling of platelet lysate components with controlled 3D architectures of electrospun microfibers to drive the fate of human tendon cells in different composite living fibers (CLFs). In the CLFs-healthy model, tendon cells adopt a high cytoskeleton alignment and elongation, express tendon-related markers (scleraxis, tenomodulin, and mohawk) and deposit a dense tenogenic matrix. In contrast, cell crowding with low preferential orientation, high matrix deposition, and phenotypic drift leading to increased expression of nontendon related and fibrotic markers, are characteristics of the CLFs-diseased model. This diseased-like profile, also reflected in the increase of COL3/COL1 ratio, is further evident by the imbalance between matrix remodeling and degradation effectors, characteristic of tendinopathy. In summary, microengineered 3D in vitro models of human tendon healthy and diseased states are successfully fabricated. Most importantly, these innovative and versatile microphysiological models offer major advantages over currently used systems, holding promise for drugs screening and development of new therapies.
