Dynamics of Tissue-Induced Alignment of Fibrous Extracellular Matrix

Dynamics of Tissue-Induced Alignment of Fibrous Extracellular Matrix.

Aligned fibers of extracellular matrix (ECM) affect the direction, efficiency, and persistence of migrating cells. To uncover the mechanisms by which multicellular tissues align their surrounding ECM before migration, we used an engineered three-dimensional culture model to investigate the dynamics of ECM alignment around tissues of defined geometry. Analysis of ECM alignment over time revealed...

Alignment of Cells and Extracellular Matrix Within Tissue-Engineered Substitutes

Synthetic nano-scale fibrous extracellular matrix.

Biodegradable polymers have been widely used as scaffolding materials to regenerate new tissues. To mimic natural extracellular matrix architecture, a novel highly porous structure, which is a three-dimensional interconnected fibrous network with a fiber diameter ranging from 50 to 500 nm, has been created from biodegradable aliphatic polyesters in this work. A porosity as high as 98.5% has bee...

A structure-based extracellular matrix expansion mechanism of fibrous tissue growth

Embryonic growth occurs predominately by an increase in cell number; little is known about growth mechanisms later in development when fibrous tissues account for the bulk of adult vertebrate mass. We present a model for fibrous tissue growth based on 3D-electron microscopy of mouse tendon. We show that the number of collagen fibrils increases during embryonic development and then remains const...

Reinforcement of a decellularized extracellular matrix-derived hydrogel using nanofibers for cardiac tissue engineering

The role of heart disease in increasing worldwide death and the limited availability of organs for transplantation have encouraged multiple strategies to fabricate functional and implantable constructs. One of these strategies is to develop a biologically similar heart tissue scaffold, in which two types of fiber and hydrogel are commonly used. Toward this goal, taking advantage of both hydroge...