Amrita Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Cochin 682041, Kerala, India.
J Biomed Nanotechnol. 2013 May;9(5):790-800. doi: 10.1166/jbn.2013.1585.
Fabricating scaffolds mimicking the native extracellular matrix (ECM) in both structure and function is a key challenge in the field of tissue engineering. Previously we have demonstrated a novel electrospinnig method for the fabrication of fibrin nanofibers using Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as an 'electrospinning-driving' polymer. Here we demonstrate the fabrication and characterization of a multiscale fibrin based composite scaffold with polycaprolactone (PCL) by sequential electrospinning of PCL microfibers and fibrin nanofibers. This multiscale scaffold has great potential for tissue engineering applications due to the combined benefits of biological nanofibers such as cell attachment and proliferation and that of microfibers such as open structure, larger pore size and adequate mechanical strength. Physico chemical characterization of the electrospun scaffold was done by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Contact angle analysis, fibrin specific Phosphotungstic acid haematoxyllin (PTAH) staining and evaluation of mechanical properties. SEM data revealed the formation of bead free nanofibers of fibrin with a fiber diameter ranging from 50-500 nm and microfibers of PCL in the size range of 1 microns to 2.5 microns. These dimensions mimic the hierarchical structure of ECM found in native tissues. Cell attachment and viability studies using human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) revealed that the scaffold is non toxic and supports cell attachment, spreading and proliferation. In addition, we examined the inflammatory potential of the scaffold to demonstrate its usefulness in tissue engineering applications.
制造模仿天然细胞外基质（ECM）结构和功能的支架是组织工程领域的一个关键挑战。以前，我们已经展示了一种使用聚（乙烯醇）（PVA）作为“电纺驱动”聚合物制造纤维蛋白纳米纤维的新型静电纺丝方法。在这里，我们展示了一种通过聚己内酯（PCL）的顺序静电纺丝制造具有纤维蛋白的多尺度复合支架的方法，制备和表征了具有多尺度纤维蛋白的复合支架，该支架由 PCL 微纤维和纤维蛋白纳米纤维组成。由于生物纳米纤维（如细胞附着和增殖）和微纤维（如开放结构、更大的孔径和足够的机械强度）的综合优势，这种多尺度支架具有巨大的组织工程应用潜力。通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、接触角分析、纤维蛋白特异性磷钨酸苏木精（PTAH）染色和机械性能评估对静电纺丝支架进行了理化特性表征。SEM 数据显示，形成了无珠的纤维蛋白纳米纤维，纤维直径在 50-500nm 之间，PCL 微纤维的尺寸在 1 微米到 2.5 微米之间。这些尺寸模拟了天然组织中发现的 ECM 的层次结构。使用人骨髓间充质干细胞（hMSC）进行细胞附着和活力研究表明，支架无毒，并支持细胞附着、扩散和增殖。此外，我们还检查了支架的炎症潜力，以证明其在组织工程应用中的有用性。
