Electrospun fiber surface nanotopography influences astrocyte-mediated neurite outgrowth

This study investigates how the tiny surface features of electrospun fibers affect astrocytes, which are important cells in the brain and spinal cord. The fibers were made with smooth, pitted, or divoted surfaces to see how these differences influenced astrocyte behavior. The research found that astrocytes from different parts of the nervous system (cortex vs. spinal cord) responded differently to the fiber surfaces. Cortical astrocytes changed shape more on pitted and divoted surfaces, while spinal cord astrocytes were less affected. The study also looked at how these surface differences affected the ability of astrocytes to help nerve fibers grow. They found that astrocytes grown on fibers for shorter times generally supported better nerve fiber growth, and that pitted and divoted fibers could hinder this growth for spinal cord astrocytes.

• 1
  Cortical astrocytes were shorter and broader on pitted and divoted fibers compared to smooth fibers, while spinal cord astrocyte morphology was not significantly altered by the surface features.
• 2
  Differences in astrocyte morphology were not associated with significant changes in GFAP or vinculin expression, suggesting that the surface pits and divots do not induce a reactive phenotype in either cortical or spinal cord astrocytes.
• 3
  Pitted and divoted fibers restricted spinal cord astrocyte-mediated neurite outgrowth, while smooth fibers increased 3 d spinal cord astrocyte-mediated neurite outgrowth.