Stimulated migration and penetration of vascular endothelial cells into poly (L-lactic acid) scaffolds under flow conditions

Background: The initial procedure of the development of engineered tissues is cell seeding into three-dimensional polymer scaffolds. However, it is hard to make the cells invade into scaffold due to the characteristic of pore and material. Electrospun poly (L-lactic acid) scaffold and flow perfusion system were used to overcome these seeding problems. Results: Before starting the experiment, we set up the parallel plate chamber system to observe endothelial cell migration under flow condition. In individual cell migration model, human umbilical endothelial cells started to migrate in the direction of flow at 8 dyne/cm² and we observed the cytoskeleton alignment at 8 dyne/cm². This study has demonstrated the possibility to evaluate and analyze cell migration using the parallel plate chamber system and we may predict in vivo cell migration under flow condition based on these results. Also the flow perfusion system was established for the effective cell seeding into at three dimensional scaffolds. Moreover, shear stress induced by flow can enhance cell migration into PLLA scaffold that is in the form of cotton. Conclusions: Result indicated that cell penetration was achieved under flow condition better and more than under static condition throughout the matrix.