Faculty of Engineering Sciences and Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Bayreuth, Ludwig Thoma Str. 36A, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
Department of Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, Prof.-Rüdiger-Bormann Str. 1, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.
ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2021 Jul 19;4(7):5585-5597. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.1c00403. Epub 2021 Jun 25.
This paper reports an approach for the fabrication of highly aligned soft elastic fibrous scaffolds using touch spinning of thermoplastic polycaprolactone-polyurethane elastomers and demonstrates their potential for the engineering of muscle tissue. A family of polyester-polyurethane soft copolymers based on polycaprolactone with different molecular weights and three different chain extenders such as 1,4-butanediol and polyethylene glycols with different molecular weight was synthesized. By varying the molar ratio and molecular weights between the segments of the copolymer, different physicochemical and mechanical properties were obtained. The polymers possess elastic modulus in the range of a few megapascals and good reversibility of deformation after stretching. The combination of the selected materials and fabrication methods allows several essential advantages such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, suitable mechanical properties (elasticity and softness of the fibers), high recovery ratio, and high resilience mimicking properties of the extracellular matrix of muscle tissue. Myoblasts demonstrate high viability in contact with aligned fibrous scaffolds, where they align along the fibers, allowing efficient cell patterning on top of the structures. Altogether, the importance of this approach is the fabrication of highly oriented fiber constructs that can support the proliferation and alignment of muscle cells for muscle tissue engineering applications.
本文报道了一种利用热塑性聚己内酯-聚氨酯弹性体的触摸纺丝来制造高度取向的软弹性纤维支架的方法，并展示了它们在肌肉组织工程中的应用潜力。合成了一系列基于聚己内酯的聚酯-聚氨酯软共聚物，具有不同的分子量和三种不同的扩链剂，如不同分子量的 1,4-丁二醇和聚乙二醇。通过改变共聚物链段之间的摩尔比和分子量，可以获得不同的物理化学和机械性能。这些聚合物具有几兆帕斯卡范围内的弹性模量和拉伸后变形的良好可回复性。所选材料和制造方法的结合具有几个重要优势，如生物相容性、可生物降解性、合适的机械性能（纤维的弹性和柔软性）、高回复率以及模仿肌肉组织细胞外基质的高弹性。成肌细胞与定向纤维支架接触时表现出高活力，它们沿着纤维排列，允许在结构顶部进行有效的细胞图案化。总的来说，这种方法的重要性在于制造高度取向的纤维结构，这些结构可以支持肌肉细胞的增殖和定向排列，从而应用于肌肉组织工程。
