title: Electrospun PCL/Gelatin composite fibrous scaffolds: mechanical properties and cellular responses.
abstract: Electrospinning of hybrid polymer has gained widespread interest by taking advantages of the biological property of the natural polymer and the mechanical property of the synthetic polymer. However, the effect of the blend ratio on the above two properties has been less reported despite the importance to balance these two properties in various tissue engineering applications. To this aim, we investigated the electrospun PCL/Gelatin composite fibrous scaffolds with different blend ratios of 4:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, respectively. The morphology of the electrospun samples was observed by SEM and the result showed that the fiber diameter distribution became more uniform with the increase of the gelatin content. The mechanical testing results indicated that the 2:1 PCL/Gelatin sample had both the highest tensile strength of 3.7 MPa and the highest elongation rate of about 90%. Surprisingly, the 2:1 PCL/Gelatin sample also showed the best mesenchymal stem cell responses in terms of attachment, spreading, and cytoskeleton organization. Such correlation might be partly due to the fact that the enhanced mechanical property, an integral part of the physical microenvironment, likely played an important role in regulating the cellular functions. Overall, our results indicated that the PCL/Gelatin sample with the blend ratio of 2:1 was a superior candidate for scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: a National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials , Sichuan University , Chengdu , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ruijuan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: a National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials , Sichuan University , Chengdu , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: a National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials , Sichuan University , Chengdu , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guolong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: a National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials , Sichuan University , Chengdu , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: a National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials , Sichuan University , Chengdu , P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D004560:Electricity; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D005780:Gelatin
keywords: Electrospinning; MSCs; PCL; gelatin; mechanical property