Induction of ICAM-1 Expression in Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts Cultured on Fibroin-Gelatin Scaffolds

Abstract

Culturing of allogeneic or autologous cells in three-dimensional bioresorbable scaffolds is an important step in the engineering of constructs for regenerative medicine, as well as for experimental systems to study the mechanisms of cell differentiation and cell-to-cell interaction. Artificial substrates can modulate the phenotype and functional activity of immobilized cells. Investigating these changes is important for understanding the fundamental processes underlying cellular interactions in a 3D microenvironment and for improving tissue-engineered structures. In this study, we investigated the expression of the ICAM-1 adhesion molecule in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) when cultured on gelatin-fibroin scaffolds. Increased expression of ICAM-1 in MEF was detected only under 3D culture conditions both at the mRNA and protein levels. At the same time, the MEF cultured on various substrates did not oerexpress MAdCAM-1, indicating the selective effect of 3D culture conditions on ICAM-1 expression. One possible mechanism for ICAM-1 induction in MEF is associated with the activation of AP-1, since expression of c-Fos and Junb (but not cJun and Jund) was increased in MEF in 3D. When cultured under 2D conditions, the expression level of AP-1 components did not change.

Novel Biodegradable Polymeric Microparticles Facilitate Scarless Wound Healing by Promoting Re-epithelialization and Inhibiting Fibrosis

“…This is additionally supported by the published work, showing that only a certain configuration of fibroin scaffolds induces the inflammatory response in monocytes (44). Furthermore, gelatin modification, used in this work to increase biocompatibility of fibroin scaffolds, could further modulate MPs influence on cultured cells, although in previous studies we did not observe any effect of gelatin-modified fibroin scaffolds on gene expression in MEF (45).…”

Tuning Myogenesis by Controlling Gelatin Hydrogel Properties through Hydrogen Peroxide-Mediated Cross-Linking and Degradation

“…Hindi et al reported that the myoblast fusion could be mediated by integrins that increase the expression of the β1D integrin and caveolin-3 via focal adhesion kinase (FAK) [ 54 ]. Alternatively, a gelatin-based scaffold could also regulate the Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1) [ 55 ] that plays role in myoblast fusion [ 56 , 57 ]. Further studies should be conducted to address the details of these pathways.…”

Fibroblasts upregulate expression of adhesion molecules and promote lymphocyte retention in 3D fibroin/gelatin scaffolds

“…In line with that, proinflammatory properties of fibroin/gelatin, but not spidroin microparticles in the model of skin wound healing in mice were also reported [ 21 ]. In addition, an increase in ICAM-1 expression by murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) cultured in 3D fibroin/gelatin scaffolds for several weeks were previously observed, although the exact mechanism for this effect was not defined [ 22 ]. In this study we uncover a peculiar property of 3D, but not of 2D fibroin, supplemented with gelatin, to induce a rapid expression of the adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in the primary cultured MEFs.…”