A new holistic 3D non-invasive analysis of cellular distribution and motility on fibroin-alginate microcarriers using light sheet fluorescent microscopy

PLoS One. 2017 Aug 17;12(8):e0183336. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183336. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Cell interaction with biomaterials is one of the keystones to developing medical devices for tissue engineering applications. Biomaterials are the scaffolds that give three-dimensional support to the cells, and are vectors that deliver the cells to the injured tissue requiring repair. Features of biomaterials can influence the behaviour of the cells and consequently the efficacy of the tissue-engineered product. The adhesion, distribution and motility of the seeded cells onto the scaffold represent key aspects, and must be evaluated in vitro during the product development, especially when the efficacy of a specific tissue-engineered product depends on viable and functional cell loading. In this work, we propose a non-invasive and non-destructive imaging analysis for investigating motility, viability and distribution of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) on silk fibroin-based alginate microcarriers, to test the adhesion capacity of the fibroin coating onto alginate which is known to be unsuitable for cell adhesion. However, in depth characterization of the biomaterial is beyond the scope of this paper. Scaffold-loaded MSCs were stained with Calcein-AM and Ethidium homodimer-1 to detect live and dead cells, respectively, and counterstained with Hoechst to label cell nuclei. Time-lapse Light Sheet Fluorescent Microscopy (LSFM) was then used to produce three-dimensional images of the entire cells-loaded fibroin/alginate microcarriers. In order to quantitatively track the cell motility over time, we also developed an open source user friendly software tool called Fluorescent Cell Tracker in Three-Dimensions (F-Tracker3D). Combining LSFM with F-Tracker3D we were able for the first time to assess the distribution and motility of stem cells in a non-invasive, non-destructive, quantitative, and three-dimensional analysis of the entire surface of the cell-loaded scaffold. We therefore propose this imaging technique as an innovative holistic tool for monitoring cell-biomaterial interactions, and as a tool for the design, fabrication and functionalization of a scaffold as a medical device.

MeSH terms

  • Alginates / chemistry*
  • Cell Adhesion
  • Fibroins / chemistry*
  • Glucuronic Acid / chemistry
  • Hexuronic Acids / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods*
  • Tissue Engineering / methods

Substances

  • Alginates
  • Hexuronic Acids
  • Glucuronic Acid
  • Fibroins

Grants and funding

Dr. Spartaco Santi was supported by grants from the Ministero della Salute: "Conto Capitale 2013" Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute; Dr. Filippo Piccinini was supported by a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO, Heidelberg, Germany) short term fellowship (EMBO ASTF 233-2015). The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro-AIRC, grant "MFAG-16491", P.I. Serena Duchi and support from “5 per mille 2014” - Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute. The funders had no role in this study.