Impacts of electric field on cell adhesion on polycaprolactone nanofibrous scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering

Objective To explore the cell adhesion and growth on the scaffold under a certain magnitude of electric field,and to compare with the cells incubated using conventional static culture techniques.Methods A synthetic polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofiberous scaffold for incubation of the endothelial progenitor cellswas constructed and was sewn on the electrical stimulator.This entailed the allocation of the cells to four groups according to the voltage (0 V,1 V,2 V and 4 V).Haematoxylin-eosin staining,transmission electron microscopy and MTF technique were applied to determine the cell adhesion and viability.Results The electric fields improved cell adhesion on the PCL scaffolds,with the optimal condition being the stimulation of 50 Hz and 2 V/cm.Conclusion The pulsatile electric field may be a promising approach for vascular tissue engineering. Key words: Tissue engineering;  Blood vessels ;  Nanocomposites;  Endothelial progenitor cell