Electrospun Mg/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) composite scaffold for urethral reconstruction

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 55; no. 27; pp. 13216 - 13231
• Main Authors: Huang, Liqu, Wang, Xianli, Zhang, Yue, Cheng, Zhaojun, Xue, Feng, Guo, Yunfei, Deng, Yongji, Chu, Chenglin, Tao, Li, Bai, Jing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Biodegradability; Biological activity; Birth defects; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Electrospinning; Endothelial cells; Gene expression; Glycolic acid; Magnesium; Materials for Life Sciences; Materials Science; Mechanical properties; Nanofibers; Necrosis; Polymer Sciences; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymers; Reconstruction; Regeneration; Scaffolds; Solid Mechanics; Stem cells; Tissue engineering; Toxicity
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-020-04951-6

Hypospadias is a common congenital malformation of the male urogenital system. As a recently arisen reconstruction method for hypospadias, polymer tissue engineering urethral scaffold often results in necrosis and other complications due to the lack of bioactivity. To improve the bioactivity of polymer, in this work, we prepared biodegradable Mg/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) composite nanofiber scaffolds by electrospun with 3, 6, and 9 wt.% of micron-scale Mg particles. The mechanical properties of the PLGA scaffold gradually decrease with the addition of Mg particles but still at an acceptable level. On the other hand, these composite scaffolds show very good biocompatibility and promotional bioactivity, namely non-cytotoxicity, gradual proliferation enhancement, and good adhesion state of human adipose stem cells (HADSCs) on the scaffold surface. Besides, through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) test, different genes expression levels of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were also gradually up-regulated with the increase in Mg content. The present results indicate that Mg containing PLGA scaffolds might not only have the potential to promote tissue regeneration related to urethral repair, but also stimulate endothelial cells to achieve vascularization and anti-inflammatory functions. Consequently, considering both the mechanical properties and bioactivity for clinical demand, the Mg/PLGA composite scaffolds with suitable Mg contents are promising for the regeneration of defective urethral tissues.