Airbrushed Nanofibrous Membranes to Control Stem Cell Infiltration In 3D
Printed Scaffolds
Abstract
Extrusion-based 3D printing of polymeric biomaterials has emerged as a
promising approach for the fabrication of complex tissue engineering
constructs. However, the large pore and feature size lead to low cell
seeding efficiency and limited control of spatial distribution of cells
within the scaffolds. We developed hybrid scaffolds that are composed of
3D printed layers and airbrushed fibrous membranes. Airbrushing time was
adjusted to fabricate low (L), medium (M), and high (H) density
membranes to effectively control stem cell infiltration. When two
distinct populations of stem cells were seeded from top or bottom of the
scaffolds, scaffolds composed of LLL membranes showed gradual mixing of
the cells with depth whereas LHL membranes led to two distinct regions
of cells separated by the H membrane. Our results demonstrate that
fibrous membranes incorporated within 3D printed layers enable
user-defined and spatially controlled cell compositions within hybrid
scaffolds.