Biology subjects

Arinzeh, T. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Arinzeh, T. L..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Modular Noncovalent Functionalization of Electrospun Piezoelectric Scaffolds with Bioactive Nanocarriers

Electrospun scaffolds offer a promising platform for immune-instructive materials, but stable and modular functionalization with bioactive signals remains a technical challenge. Here, we develop a surface coating strategy for electrospun scaffolds that consist of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE), a piezoelectric polymer, using electrostatic adsorption of charged nanoparticles. We show that under certain conditions, these piezoelectric scaffolds are suitable substrates for electrostatic self-assembly, and that the density of nanoparticle coatings can be tuned by adjusting buffer pH, ionic strength, and nanoparticle concentration. This approach enables robust and uniform coating of both polymeric nanoparticles and soft nanocarriers such as liposomes, without requiring covalent surface modification. Liposome-coated scaffolds are cytocompatible with adherent epithelial and suspension immune cells and support lipid exchange at the cell-material interface. Using a supramolecular tethering strategy, we use liposome coatings to present interleukin-15 (IL-15) from the scaffold surface and demonstrate localized, sustained cytokine signaling. Together, these findings establish a modular approach for post-fabrication, noncovalent scaffold functionalization with bioactive nanocarriers, offering new opportunities for tissue and immune engineering.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2020

Artificial scaffolds that mimic the plant extracellular environment for the culture and attachment of plant cells

Plant growth and development involves an intricate program of cell division and cell expansion to generate different cell types, tissue patterns and organ shapes. Plant cells are stuck together by their cell walls and the spatial context of cells within tissues plays a critical role in cell fate specification and morphogenesis. An in vitro model system to study plant development and its regulation by various extrinsic and intrinsic factors requires the ability to mimic the physical interactions between cells and their environment. Here, we present a set of artificial scaffolds to which cultured tobacco BY-2 cells adhere without causing morphological abnormalities. These scaffolds mimic native plant cell walls in terms of their fibrous nature, charge, hydrophobicity and piezoelectricity. We found that the extent of plant cell adhesion was essentially insensitive to the stiffness, fiber dimension, and fiber orientation of the scaffolds, but was affected by the piezoelectric properties of scaffolds where adhesion increased on piezoelectric materials. We also found that the plant cell wall polysaccharide, pectin, is largely responsible for adhesion to scaffolds, analogous to pectin-mediated adhesion of plant cells in tissues. Together, this work establishes biomimetic scaffolds that realistically emulate the plant tissue environment and provide the capability to develop microfluidic devices to study how cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions affect plant developmental pathways.

cell biology↗