Wang, Haoyu;
Stanley, Chelsea Violita;
Gao, Xiangshen;
Liu, Ziyu;
Zhou, Mo;
Zhang, Mingjing;
Zhou, Feng-lei;
... Liu, Chaozong; + view all
(2025)
Auxiliary electrode tunes wet-electrospun bundle stiffness to modulate cell phenotype.
Biomedical Materials
, 20
(4)
, Article 045031. 10.1088/1748-605X/ade8c6.
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Abstract
The stiffness of tissue-engineered scaffolds significantly influences cell behaviour and phenotype. However, current approaches to tuning stiffness often introduce unintended variations and compromise topographical consistency. In this study, an innovative wet-electrospinning set-up, incorporating a positively charged auxiliary electrode was developed to fabricate bundles with adjustable stiffness. COMSOL-based electromechanical computing revealed that the auxiliary electrode provided electrostatic force, which reduced stress concentration during continuous polycaprolactone (PCL) bundle collection at speeds up to 120 m min−1. Tensile testing showed that increasing collection speed significantly enhanced bundle stiffness, with Young’s modulus rising from 40 to 107 MPa. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that this strengthen effect was associated with crystal disintegration and grain refinement within PCL fibre. These changes were reflected in scaffold stiffness, thereby, further influenced cell behaviour, as bundles with higher stiffness promoted a transition from non-polarised to spindle-like cell morphology. This electrostatic-assisted collection wet-electrospun setup enables the fabrication of scaffolds with tuneable mechanical properties while preserving topographical consistency, offering a robust strategy for mechanobiology research and tissue engineering.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Auxiliary electrode tunes wet-electrospun bundle stiffness to modulate cell phenotype |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1088/1748-605X/ade8c6 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-605x/ade8c6 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci > Department of Ortho and MSK Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10219435 |
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