Cellular responses to a nanofibrous environment (original) (raw)
interact with cell surface receptors 1-4 . The interplay between cells and the ECM is a dynamic and complex process where the physical and chemical properties of the ECM elicit different cellular responses 1,5 . An engineered substrate seeking to emulate the functions of the native ECM should, therefore, recapitulate its three dimensionality and nanofibrous topography, as well as its plethora of chemical motifs 6,7 . Advances in nanotechnology in recent years have enabled us to engineer novel biomaterials with these levels of complexities 7-9 . The eventual use of such complex biomaterials for specific applications will require an iterative process of understanding the mechanisms guiding cell-matrix interactions so that we can precisely control biomaterial properties to elicit desirable cellular responses . Here, we emphasize the importance of the three-dimensional nanofibrous features of extracellular environments in modulating cellular responses with local or subcellular resolutions in space-and timedependent manners. We also highlight state-of-the-art technologies to fabricate and characterize nanofibrous environments for relevant applications.
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