Tissue Engineering: Defined Micropatterning of ECM Protein Adhesive Sites on Alginate Microfibers for Engineering Highly Anisotropic Muscle Cell Bundles (Adv. Mater. Technol. 4/2016)

Adam W. Feinberg and co-workers present in article number 1600003 a method to engineer alginate microfibers with precisely defined micropatterning of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein adhesive sites. The upper part of the cover image shows a muscle fiber bundle composed of multiple alginate microfibers that together form a structure similar to the in vivo architecture of skeletal muscle. The lower part shows multiple alginate microfibers patterned with fibronectin adhesive sites direct the uniaxial alignment of C2C12 skeletal muscle myoblasts.