New insights into the effects of biomaterial chemistry and topography on the morphology of kidney epithelial cells

Frits Hulshof, Carolien Schophuizen, Milos Mihajlovic, Clemens van Blitterswijk, Rosalinde Masereeuw, Jan de Boer, Dimitrios Stamatialis* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)
27 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Increasing incidence of renal pathology in the western world calls for innovative research for the development of cell-based therapies such as a bioartificial kidney (BAK) device. To fulfil the multitude of kidney functions, the core component of the BAK is a living membrane consisting of a tight kidney cell monolayer with preserved functional organic ion transporters cultured on a polymeric membrane surface. This membrane, on one side, is in contact with blood and therefore should have excellent blood compatibility, whereas the other side should facilitate functional monolayer formation. This work investigated the effect of membrane chemistry and surface topography on kidney epithelial cells to improve the formation of a functional monolayer. To achieve this, microtopographies were fabricated with high resolution and reproducibility on polystyrene films and on polyethersulfone-polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PES-PVP) porous membranes. A conditionally immortalized proximal tubule epithelial cell line (ciPTEC) was cultured on both, and subsequently, the cell morphology and monolayer formation were assessed. Our results showed that L-dopamine coating of the PES-PVP was sufficient to support ciPTEC monolayer formation. The polystyrene topographies with large features were able to align the cells in various patterns without significantly disruption of monolayer formation; however, the PES-PVP topographies with large features disrupted the monolayer. In contrast, the PES-PVP membranes with small features and with large spacing supported well the ciPTEC monolayer formation. In addition, the topographical PES-PVP membranes were compatible as a substrate membrane to measure organic cation transporter activity in Transwell® systems.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e817-e827
JournalJournal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Volume12
Issue number2
Early online date15 Dec 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2018

Keywords

  • UT-Hybrid-D
  • Biomaterial chemistry
  • Cell morphology and function
  • Kidney epithelial cells
  • Membrane
  • Surface topography
  • Bioartificial kidney
  • 22/3 OA procedure

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