title: Hybrid microfabrication of nanofiber-based sheets and rods for tissue engineering applications.
abstract: Electrospun nanofibers have been developed into a variety of forms for tissue engineering scaffolds to regulate the cellular functions guided by nanotopographical cues. Here, we have successfully fabricated nanofiber-based scaffold complexes of rod and sheet type by combining the three microfabrication techniques of electrospinning, spin coating, and polymer melt deposition. It was demonstrated that this hybrid fabrication could produce uniaxially aligned nanofiber scaffolds supported by a thin film, allowing for a mechanically enforced substrate for cell culture as well as facile scaffold manipulation. The results of cell analysis indicated that nanofibers on spin-coated films could provide contact guidance effects on cells and retain them even after manipulation. As an application of the cell-laden nanofiber film, we built a rod-type structure by rolling up the film around a mechanically supporting core microfiber, which was incorporated by polymer melt deposition. A biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, polycaprolactone, was used throughout the processes and thus could be used as a directly implantable substitute in tissue regeneration.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Suk-Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Min Sung
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dasom
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yong Whan
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Deok-Ho
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kahp-Yang
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Suh
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000379:methods*; D057139:Nanofibers; D049329:Nanostructures; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
keywords: electrospinning; nanofibers; polymer melt deposition; spin coating; tissue engineering