Amrita Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University , Kochi, India .
Tissue Eng Part A. 2014 Jun;20(11-12):1689-702. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2013.0569. Epub 2014 Feb 14.
In this study, poly(caprolactone) (PCL) was electrospun to nano, micro, and multiscale (micro-nano) fibers, which were then subjected to low pressure argon and nitrogen plasma treatment. The electrospun fibers contain microfibers of diameter 8-10 μm and nanofibers of diameter 200-300 nm. Characterization of the plasma-treated fibers showed that treatment using less oxidizing gas like nitrogen and inert gas like argon functionalize the surface with polar groups that significantly modify the properties of the scaffold. Highly hydrophobic PCL fibrous scaffolds were rendered hydrophilic, with significantly improved biomineralization after the plasma treatment. While plasma treatment on micro and multiscale fibers enhanced their protein adsorption, cell attachment, spreading, elongation, and proliferation, nanofibers showed remarkably improved cell attachment. The applicability of plasma-treated electrospun fibers for differentiation of mesenchymal stem cell toward osteogenic lineage was also studied. Accelerated differentiation toward osteoblast lineage, with maximum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in 14 days was achieved in plasma-treated fibers. Another remarkable outcome was the enhanced ALP activity of the microfibers after plasma treatment, compared with multiscale and nanofibers. Alizarin red staining further confirmed the mineralization of the plasma-treated scaffolds, indicative of maturation of the differentiated cells. This work thus concentrates on harnessing the potential of plasma treatment, for improving the osteoconductivity of fibrous scaffolds, which could be used for bone tissue engineering/regenerative medicine.
在这项研究中，聚己内酯（PCL）被电纺成纳米、微米和多尺度（微纳）纤维，然后进行低压氩气和氮气等离子体处理。电纺纤维包含直径为 8-10μm 的微纤维和直径为 200-300nm 的纳米纤维。等离子体处理纤维的特性表明，使用像氮气这样氧化性较弱的气体和像氩气这样的惰性气体处理，可以在表面形成官能团，从而显著改变支架的性能。高度疏水的 PCL 纤维支架变得亲水，经过等离子体处理后，生物矿化能力显著提高。虽然微纤维和多尺度纤维的等离子体处理增强了它们的蛋白质吸附、细胞附着、扩散、伸长和增殖能力，但纳米纤维的细胞附着能力显著提高。等离子体处理的电纺纤维对间充质干细胞向成骨谱系分化的适用性也进行了研究。经等离子体处理的纤维中，碱性磷酸酶（ALP）活性在 14 天内达到最大，向成骨细胞系的分化速度加快。另一个显著的结果是，与多尺度纤维和纳米纤维相比，经等离子体处理后的微纤维的 ALP 活性增强。茜素红染色进一步证实了等离子体处理支架的矿化，表明分化细胞的成熟。因此，这项工作集中在利用等离子体处理的潜力，提高纤维支架的骨传导性，可用于骨组织工程/再生医学。
