Constructing Human Skin Equivalents on Porcine Acellular Peritoneum Extracellular Matrix for In Vitro Irritation Testing.

The irritancy of topical products has to be investigated to ensure the safety and compliance. Although several reconstructed human epidermal models have been adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to replace in vivo animal irritation testing, these models are based on a single cell type and lack dermal components, which may be insufficient to reflect all of the components of irritation. In our study, we investigated the use of acellular porcine peritoneum extracellular matrix as a substrate to construct full-thickness human skin equivalents (HSEs) for use as irritation screening tool. The acellular peritoneum matrix (APM) exhibited excellent skin cell attachment (>80%) and proliferation for human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) and immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT). APM-HSEs based on coculture of HDF and HaCaT were prepared. Increased HDF seeding density up to 5 × 10(4)/cm(2) resulted in APM-HSEs with a thicker and more organized epidermis. The epidermis of APM-HSEs expressed keratin 15, a keratinocyte proliferation marker, and involucrin, a differentiation marker, respectively. To assess the use of APM-HSEs for irritation testing, six proficiency chemicals, including three nonirritants (phosphate-buffered saline, polyethylene glycol 400, and isopropanol) and three irritants (1-bromohexane, heptanol, and sodium dodecyl sulfate) were applied. The APM-HSEs were able to discriminate nonirritants from irritants based on the viability. Levels of cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1α, IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-8, and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF]) in these treatment groups further assisted the irritancy ranking. In conclusion, we have developed partially differentiated full-thickness APM-HSEs based on acellular porcine peritoneum matrix, and these APM-HSEs demonstrated utility as an in vitro irritation screening tool.

Microfibrous substrate geometry as a critical trigger for organization, self-renewal, and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells within synthetic 3-dimensional microenvironments.

Substrates used to culture human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are typically 2-dimensional (2-D) in nature, with limited ability to recapitulate in vivo-like 3-dimensional (3-D) microenvironments. We examined critical determinants of hESC self-renewal in poly-d-lysine-pretreated synthetic polymer-based substrates with variable microgeometries, including planar 2-D films, macroporous 3-D sponges, and microfibrous 3-D fiber mats. Completely synthetic 2-D substrates and 3-D macroporous scaffolds failed to retain hESCs or support self-renewal or differentiation. However, synthetic microfibrous geometries made from electrospun polymer fibers were found to promote cell adhesion, viability, proliferation, self-renewal, and directed differentiation of hESCs in the absence of any exogenous matrix proteins. Mechanistic studies of hESC adhesion within microfibrous scaffolds indicated that enhanced cell confinement in such geometries increased cell-cell contacts and altered colony organization. Moreover, the microfibrous scaffolds also induced hESCs to deposit and organize extracellular matrix proteins like laminin such that the distribution of laminin was more closely associated with the cells than the Matrigel treatment, where the laminin remained associated with the coated fibers. The production of and binding to laminin was critical for formation of viable hESC colonies on synthetic fibrous scaffolds. Thus, synthetic substrates with specific 3-D microgeometries can support hESC colony formation, self-renewal, and directed differentiation to multiple lineages while obviating the stringent needs for complex, exogenous matrices. Similar scaffolds could serve as tools for developmental biology studies in 3-D and for stem cell differentiation in situ and transplantation using defined humanized conditions.

Minute changes in composition of polymer substrates produce amplified differences in cell adhesion and motility via optimal ligand conditioning.

We explored the interplay between substratum chemistry of polymeric materials and surface-adsorbed ligand concentration (human plasma fibronectin) in the control of cell adhesion and cell motility. We found that small changes in the chemical composition of a polymeric substratum had different effects on cellular motility--depending on the concentration of preadsorbed fibronectin. We used two tyrosine-derived polyarylates, poly(DTD diglycolate) and poly(DTD glutarate), as substrata for the seeding of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts. The only compositional difference between the two test polymers was that one single oxygen atom in the polymer backbone of poly(DTD diglycolate) had been substituted by a methylene group in the backbone of poly(DTD glutarate), The two polymers had closely matched hydrophobicity and physical properties. Flat, spin-coated surfaces of these polymers were pretreated with different concentrations of human plasma fibronectin (0-20 microg/ml). After seeding with NIH-3T3 fibroblasts, we examined the adhesion and motility behavior of these cells. We found that NIH-3T3 fibroblasts migrated significantly faster on poly(DTD diglycolate), but only when the polymer surfaces were pretreated with intermediate concentrations of fibronectin. Only at these intermediate levels of ligand conditioning, did the presence of an extra oxygen atom in the backbone of poly(DTD diglycolate) relative to poly(DTD glutarate) (i) alter the overall organization/concentration of the fibronectin; (ii) weaken cell attachment strength and inhibited excessive cell spreading; and (iii) promote cell motility kinetics. These findings indicate that the biological effect of minute changes in substratum chemistry is critically dependent on the level of surface-adsorbed cell-binding ligands.