title: Synthesis and characterization of electrospun polyvinyl alcohol nanofibrous scaffolds modified by blending with chitosan for neural tissue engineering.
abstract: Among several attempts to integrate tissue engineering concepts into strategies to repair different parts of the human body, neuronal repair stands as a challenging area due to the complexity of the structure and function of the nervous system and the low efficiency of conventional repair approaches. Herein, electrospun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/chitosan nanofibrous scaffolds have been synthesized with large pore sizes as potential matrices for nervous tissue engineering and repair. PVA fibers were modified through blending with chitosan and porosity of scaffolds was measured at various levels of their depth through an image analysis method. In addition, the structural, physicochemical, biodegradability, and swelling of the chitosan nanofibrous scaffolds were evaluated. The chitosan-containing scaffolds were used for in vitro cell culture in contact with PC12 nerve cells, and they were found to exhibit the most balanced properties to meet the basic required specifications for nerve cells. It could be concluded that addition of chitosan to the PVA scaffolds enhances viability and proliferation of nerve cells, which increases the biocompatibility of the scaffolds. In fact, addition of a small percentage of chitosan to the PVA scaffolds proved to be a promising approach for synthesis of a neural-friendly polymeric blend.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering (Center of Excellence), Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sanaz Naghavi
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Alhosseini
authors.forename: Fathollah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moztarzadeh
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mozafari
authors.forename: Shadnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asgari
authors.forename: Masumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dodel
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samadikuchaksaraei
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kargozar
authors.forename: Newsha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jalali
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010316:Particle Size; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; D048271:Chitosan