Impact of neurite alignment on organelle motion

Intracellular transport is pivotal for cell growth and survival. Malfunctions in this process have been associated with devastating neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved. Here, we use an experimental methodology that leads neurites of differentiated PC12 cells into either one of two configurations: a one-dimensional configuration, where the neurites align along lines, or a two-dimensional configuration, where the neurites adopt a random orientation and shape on a flat substrate. We subsequently monitored the motion of functional organelles, the lysosomes, inside the neurites. Implementing a time-resolved analysis of the mean-squared displacement, we quantitatively characterized distinct motion modes of the lysosomes. Our results indicate that neurite alignment gives rise to faster diffusive and super-diffusive lysosomal motion than the situation in which the neurites are randomly oriented. After inducing lysosome swelling through an osmotic challenge by sucrose, we confirmed the predicted slowdown in diffusive mobility. Surprisingly, we found that the swelling-induced mobility change affected each of the (sub-/super-)diffusive motion modes differently and depended on the alignment configuration of the neurites. Our findings imply that intracellular transport is significantly and robustly dependent on cell morphology, which might in part be controlled by the extracellular matrix.

Anisometric Microstructures to Determine Minimal Critical Physical Cues Required for Neurite Alignment

In nerve regeneration, scaffolds play an important role in providing an artificial extracellular matrix with architectural, mechanical, and biochemical cues to bridge the site of injury. Directed nerve growth is a crucial aspect of nerve repair, often introduced by engineered scaffolds imparting linear tracks. The influence of physical cues, determined by well-defined architectures, has been mainly studied for implantable scaffolds and is usually limited to continuous guiding features. In this report, the potential of short anisometric microelements in inducing aligned neurite extension, their dimensions, and the role of vertical and horizontal distances between them, is investigated. This provides crucial information to create efficient injectable 3D materials with discontinuous, in situ magnetically oriented microstructures, like the Anisogel. By designing and fabricating periodic, anisometric, discreet guidance cues in a high-throughput 2D in vitro platform using two-photon lithography techniques, the authors are able to decipher the minimal guidance cues required for directed nerve growth along the major axis of the microelements. These features determine whether axons grow unidirectionally or cross paths via the open spaces between the elements, which is vital for the design of injectable Anisogels for enhanced nerve repair.

Influence of micro and submicro poly(lactic-glycolic acid) fibers on sensory neural cell locomotion and neurite growth

For successful peripheral nerve regeneration, a complex interplay of growth factors, topographical guidance structure by cells and extracellular matrix proteins, are needed. Aligned fibrous biomaterials with a wide variety in fiber diameter have been used successfully to support neuronal guidance. To better understand the importance of size of the topographical features, we investigated the directionality of neuronal migration of sensory ND7/23 cells on aligned electrospun poly(lactic-glycolic acid) PLGA fibers in the range of micrometer and submicrometer diameters by time-lapse microscopy. Cell trajectories of single ND7/23 cells were found to significantly follow topographies of PLGA fibers with micrometer dimensions in contrast to PLGA fibers within the submicrometer range, where cell body movement was observed to be independent of fibrous structures. Moreover, neurite alignment of ND7/23 cells on various topographies was assessed. PLGA fibers with micrometer dimensions significantly aligned 83.3% of all neurites after 1 day of differentiation compared to similar submicrometer structures, which orientated 25.8% of all neurites. Interestingly, after 7 days of differentiation ND7/23 cells on submicrometer PLGA fibers increased their alignment of neurites to 52.5%. Together, aligned PLGA fibers with micrometer dimensions showed a superior influence on directionality of neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth of sensory ND7/23 cells, indicating that electrospun micro-PLGA fibers might represent a potential material to induce directionality of neuronal growth in engineering applications for sensory nerve regeneration.