Plant cell adhesion and growth on artificial fibrous scaffolds as an in vitro model for plant development

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2021

Abstract

Mechanistic studies of plant development would benefit from an in vitro model that mimics the endogenous physical interactions between cells and their microenvironment. Here, we present artificial scaffolds to which both solid- and liquid-cultured tobacco BY-2 cells adhere without perturbing cell morphology, division, and cortical microtubule organization. Scaffolds consisting of polyvinylidene tri-fluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) were prepared to mimic the cell wall's fibrillar structure and its relative hydrophobicity and piezoelectric property. We found that cells adhered best to scaffolds consisting of nanosized aligned fibers. In addition, poling of PVDF-TrFE, which orients the fiber dipoles and renders the scaffold more piezoelectric, increased cell adhesion. Enzymatic treatments revealed that the plant cell wall polysaccharide, pectin, is largely responsible for cell adhesion to scaffolds, analogous to pectin-mediated cell adhesion in plant tissues. Together, this work establishes the first plant biomimetic scaffolds that will enable studies of how cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions affect plant developmental pathways.

Identifier

85117704718 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Science Advances

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj1469

e-ISSN

23752548

PubMed ID

34669469

Issue

43

Volume

7

Grant

15-48571

Fund Ref

National Science Foundation

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