Electrospun scaffolds of silk fibroin and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) for endothelial cell growth

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 5386 - 14
• Main Authors: Zhou, Wei, Feng, Yakai, Yang, Jing, Fan, Jiaxu, Lv, Juan, Zhang, Li, Guo, Jintang, Ren, Xiangkui, Zhang, Wencheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Biomaterials; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedical materials; Cell Adhesion; Cell Proliferation; Cell Survival; Ceramics; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Degradation; Electrospinning; Endothelial cells; Endothelial Cells - cytology; Ethanol; Ethanol - chemistry; Ethyl alcohol; Extracellular Matrix - metabolism; Fibers; Fibroins - chemistry; Glass; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells; Humans; Hydrophilicity; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Lactic Acid - chemistry; Materials Science; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Natural Materials; Polyglycolic Acid - chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Porosity; Regenerative Medicine/Tissue Engineering; Scaffolds; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Stress, Mechanical; Surface Properties; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Tissue Engineering - methods; Tissue Engineering Constructs and Cell Substrates; Tissue Scaffolds; Viability; Water - chemistry; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cell; Silk Fibroin; Water Contact Angle; Electrospun Fiber; Composite Scaffold
• ISSN: 0957-4530; 1573-4838
• DOI: 10.1007/s10856-015-5386-6

Electrospun scaffolds of silk fibroin (SF) and poly(lactide- co -glycolide) (PLGA) were prepared to mimic the morphology and chemistry of the extracellular matrix. The SF/PLGA scaffolds were treated with ethanol to improve their usability. After ethanol treatment the scaffolds exhibited a smooth surface and uniform fibers. SF transformed from random coil conformation to β-sheet structure after ethanol treatment, so that the SF/PLGA scaffolds showed low hydrophilicity and dissolving rate in water. The mechanical properties and the hydrophilicity of the blended fibrous scaffolds were affected by the weight ratio of SF and PLGA. During degradation of ethanol-treated SF/PLGA scaffolds in vitro, the fibers became thin along with the degradation time. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded onto the ethanol-treated nanofibrous scaffolds for cell viability, attachment and morphogenesis studies. These SF/PLGA scaffolds could enhance the viability, spreading and attachment of HUVECs. Based on these results, these ethanol-treated scaffolds are proposed to be a good candidate for endothelial cell growth.