Recently, natural plant materials have been highlighted as unique and sustainable biomaterials for cell culture. Most plant cells and proteins can be eliminated through decellularization process, while biocompatible components such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin are remaining. Moreover, the hierarchical structures of plant with interconnected vessels and micropores provide a rich scaffold for culturing cells that rely on fluid transport and structural organization. In addition, certain plant tissues such as leaves of monocots species have uniaxial micropattern on their surface which promote well-defined cellular alignment and elongation. In this work, monocot plant leaf materials that contain parallel micro-topography were studied to induce myogenic differentiation and functional muscle tissue formation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The leaf material was coated with poly(PEGMEA-<i>r</i>-VDM-<i>r</i>-GMA)) (PVG) copolymer that can prevents non-specific protein adsorption and can regulate the cell-materials interaction by incorporating biomolecules. The surface of leaf was modified with RGD peptide to enable cell adhesion and growth. The ESCs on the biofunctionalized leaf materials presented parallel orientation and elongation in the direction of the leaf topography and showed significant myogenic differentiation. The oriented cells formed thick myotubes and showed muscular contraction under chemical stimulation.

Biofunctionalized plant leaf-derived biomaterials for skeletal muscle tissue engineering

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.