title: Highly aligned nanocomposite scaffolds by electrospinning and electrospraying for neural tissue regeneration.
abstract: Neural tissue engineering offers a promising avenue for repairing neural injuries. Advancement in nanotechnology and neural scaffold manufacturing strategies has shed light on this field into a new era. In this study, a novel tissue engineered scaffold, which possesses highly aligned poly-ε-caprolactone microfibrous framework and adjustable bioactive factor embedded poly (d, l-lactide-co-glycolide) core-shell nanospheres, was fabricated by combining electrospinning and electrospraying techniques. The fabricated nanocomposite scaffold has cell favorable nanostructured feature and improved hydrophilic surface property. More importantly, by incorporating core-shell nanospheres into microfibrous scaffold, a sustained bioactive factor release was achieved. Results show rat pheochromocytoma (PC-12) cell proliferation was significantly promoted on the nanocomposite scaffold. In addition, confocal microscope images illustrated that the highly aligned scaffold increased length of neurites and directed neurites extension along the fibers in both PC-12 and astrocyte cell lines, which indicates that the scaffold is promising for guiding neural tissue growth and regeneration. From the clinical editor: In an attempt to direct neural cell growth, biomimetic neural scaffold was produced by electrospinning integrated with co-axial electrospraying techniques. In-vitro data provided a framework for future designs for neuronal regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland, Collage Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Fahed
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Masood
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA; Department of Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. Electronic address: lgzhang@gwu.edu.
authors.forename: Lijie Grace
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D016501:Neurites / Q000378:metabolism*; D016716:PC12 Cells; D011098:Polyglactin 910 / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D012038:Regeneration; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011098:Polyglactin 910
keywords: Axonal extension; Electrospinning; Electrospraying; Nanocomposite; Neural tissue engineering