title: Use of gum arabic to improve the fabrication of chitosan-gelatin-based nanofibers for tissue engineering.
abstract: Current techniques for fabricating chitosan-gelatin-based nanofibers require the use of corrosive and expensive solvents. Our novel method, however, using gum arabic and a mild (20 wt%) aqueous acetic acid solution as solvent can produce a solution with much higher chitosan-gelatin content (16 wt%). Without gum arabic, which greatly decreases the viscosity of the solution, such an outcome was unachievable. The solution was utilized to prepare electrospun chitosan-gelatin-polyvinyl alcohol-gum arabic nanofibers with a weight ratio of 8:8:2:0.5 (C8G8P2A0.5 nanofibers), in which polyvinyl alcohol could stabilize the electrospinning process. The stability and tensile strength (2.53 MPa) of C8G8P2A0.5 nanofibers (mats) were enhanced by glutaraldehyde crosslinking. Furthermore, mesenchymal stem cells attached and proliferated well on the mat. The strength-enhanced and cytocompatible C8G8P2A0.5 mats are thereby suitable for tissue engineering applications. More importantly, we have created a less expensive and safer method (one not using hazardous solvents) to fabricate chitosan-gelatin-based nanofibers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ruei-Yi
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ting-Yun
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan; Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Chieh
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Che-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: General Education Center, China University of Technology, Taipei 116, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Yang
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Hsien
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Da-Ming
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan. Electronic address: hjhsieh@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Hsyue-Jen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hsieh
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005976:Glutaral / Q000737:chemistry; D006170:Gum Arabic / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D006170:Gum Arabic; D005780:Gelatin; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; D048271:Chitosan; D019342:Acetic Acid; D005976:Glutaral
keywords: Chitosan; Cytocompatibility; Electrospinning; Gelatin; Gum arabic; Viscosity