Critical role of the composition of the cell culture medium on cell attachment and viability on PLA biocomposite scaffolds under in vitro assay conditions

In tissue engineering applications 3D scaffolds undertake the function of the native extracellular matrix (ECM) for cell attachment, survival, proliferation, and differentiation. For successful long-term implementation scaffolds need to mimic the ECM in vitro and in vivo. Many studies have focused on protein adsorption as the most critical factor for cell attachment. To improve protein adsorption on polymeric scaffolds various physical and chemical surface modification techniques, such as changing surface porosity, surface energy, and introducing various functional surface chemical groups have been investigated. It is well studied and documented that complex interactions between the biomaterial surface and the cell culture components in in vitro assay conditions define the scaffold performance. In this study influence of in vitro assay components on HepG2 liver cell attachment and proliferation on 3D printed poly(lactic acid) (PLA) scaffolds coated with various polymeric electrospun webs were investigated. MTT assays were performed on the scaffolds by using 3 different cell culture media; (i) basal cell culture medium (DMEM), (ii) DMEM supplemented with 10% albumin, and (iii) DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Results obtained have shown dramatic improvement in cell attachment and proliferation in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS when compared with DMEM and DMEM containing 10% albumin. Our findings clearly demonstrate synergistic effects of all bioactive components present in the FBS medium in significantly improving the HepG2 cell attachment and proliferation on polymeric scaffolds under in vitro conditions, regardless of the substrate structure, composition, and surface properties.