title: Electrospinning of poly(glycerol sebacate)-based nanofibers for nerve tissue engineering.
abstract: Nerve tissue engineering (TE) requires biomimetic scaffolds providing essential chemical and topographical cues for nerve regeneration. Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) is a biodegradable and elastic polymer that has gained great interest as a TE scaffolding biomaterial. However, uncured PGS is difficult to be electrospun into nanofibers. PGS would, therefore, require the addition of electrospinning agents. In this study, we modified PGS by using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) to synthesize PGS-based copolymers with methyl methacrylate (MMA). The synthesized PGS-PMMA copolymer showed a molecular weight of 82kDa and a glass transition temperature of 115°C. More importantly, the PGS-PMMA could be easily electrospun into nanofiber with a fiber diameter of 167±33nm. Blending gelatin into PGS-PMMA nanofibers was found to increase its hydrophilicity and biocompatibility. Rat PC12 cells were seeded onto the PGS-PMMA/gelatin nanofibers to investigate their potential for nerve regeneration. It was found that gelatin-containing PGS-based nanofibers promoted cell proliferation. The elongated cell morphology observed on such nanofibers indicated that the scaffolds could induce the neurite outgrowth of the nerve stem cells. Overall, our study suggested that the synthesis of PGS-based copolymers might be a promising approach to enhance their processability, and therefore advancing bioscaffold engineering for various TE applications.
authors: College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
authors: Jue
authors: J
authors: Hu
authors: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), A*STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, #08-03, 138634, Singapore. Electronic address: kaid@imre.a-star.edu.sg.
authors: Dan
authors: D
authors: Kai
authors: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), A*STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, #08-03, 138634, Singapore.
authors: Hongye
authors: H
authors: Ye
authors: Centre for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 2 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore.
authors: Lingling
authors: L
authors: Tian
authors: College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China. Electronic address: xding@dhu.edu.cn.
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Ding
authors: Centre for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 2 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore; Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Institute of CNS Regeneration (GHMICR), Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Seeram
authors: S
authors: Ramakrishna
authors: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), A*STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, #08-03, 138634, Singapore; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576, Singapore; Singapore Eye Research Institute, 11 Third Hospital Avenue, Singapore 168751, Singapore. Electronic address: lohxj@imre.a-star.edu.sg.
authors: Xian Jun
authors: XJ
authors: Loh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048430:Cell Shape; D003651:Decanoates; D005990:Glycerol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D016716:PC12 Cells; D011108:Polymers; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D051381:Rats; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003651:Decanoates; D011108:Polymers; C469892:poly(glycerol-sebacate); D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D005990:Glycerol
keywords: Atom transfer radical polymerization; Methyl methacrylate; PGS; Scaffolds; Spinnability