title: A review of key challenges of electrospun scaffolds for tissue-engineering applications.
abstract: Tissue engineering holds great promise to develop functional constructs resembling the structural organization of native tissues to improve or replace biological functions, with the ultimate goal of avoiding organ transplantation. In tissue engineering, cells are often seeded into artificial structures capable of supporting three-dimensional (3D) tissue formation. An optimal scaffold for tissue-engineering applications should mimic the mechanical and functional properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of those tissues to be regenerated. Amongst the various scaffolding techniques, electrospinning is an outstanding one which is capable of producing non-woven fibrous structures with dimensional constituents similar to those of ECM fibres. In recent years, electrospinning has gained widespread interest as a potential tissue-engineering scaffolding technique and has been discussed in detail in many studies. So why this review? Apart from their clear advantages and extensive use, electrospun scaffolds encounter some practical limitations, such as scarce cell infiltration and inadequate mechanical strength for load-bearing applications. A number of solutions have been offered by different research groups to overcome the above-mentioned limitations. In this review, we provide an overview of the limitations of electrospinning as a tissue-engineered scaffolding technique, with emphasis on possible resolutions of those issues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Faculty, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sajedeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khorshidi
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Faculty, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran. atefeh.solouk@aut.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Atefeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solouk
authors.affiliation: Polymer Engineering Faculty, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mirzadeh
authors.affiliation: Amirkabir Nanotechnology Research Institute (ANTRI), Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeedeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazinani
authors.affiliation: Novel Materials and Nanotechnology Group, IATA-CSIC, Avda Agustı'n Escardino 7, 46980, Burjassot, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lagaron
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials Science and Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Shahriar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharifi
authors.affiliation: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Seeram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramakrishna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
keywords: cell infiltration; electrospinning; mechanical strength; tissue engineering