title: Electrospun polycaprolactone/gelatin composites with enhanced cell-matrix interactions as blood vessel endothelial layer scaffolds.
abstract: During the fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds and subsequent tissue regeneration, surface bioactivity is vital for cell adhesion, spreading, and proliferation, especially for endothelium dysfunction repair. In this paper, synthetic polymer polycaprolactone (PCL) was blended with natural polymer gelatin at four different weight ratios followed by crosslinking (i.e., 100:0, 70:30, 50:50, 30:70, labeled as PCL-C, P7G3-C, P5G5-C, and P3G7-C) to impart enhanced bioactivity and tunable mechanical properties. The PCL/gelatin blends were first dissolved in 2,2,2-trifluroethanol (TFE) and supplementary acetic acid (1% relative to TFE) solvent, electrospun, and then cross-linked to produce PBS-proof fibrous scaffolds. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) indicated that fibers of each sample were smooth and homogeneous, with the fiber diameters increasing from 1.01±0.51μm to 1.61±0.46μm as the content of gelatin increased. While thermal resistance and crystallization of the blends were affected by the presence of gelatin, as reflected by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results, water contact angle (WCA) tests confirmed that the scaffold surfaces became more hydrophilic. Tensile tests showed that PCL-C and P7G3-C scaffolds had mechanical properties comparable to those of human coronary arteries. As for cytocompatibility, skeleton staining images showed that human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) had more favorable binding sites on PCL/gelatin scaffolds than those on PCL scaffolds. Cell proliferation assays revealed that P7G3-C scaffolds could support the most number of hMSCs. The results of this study demonstrated the enhanced cell-matrix interactions and potential use of electrospun PCL/gelatin scaffolds in the tissue engineering field, especially in wound dressings and endothelium regeneration.
authors.affiliation: National Center for International Research of Micro-Nano Molding Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Yong-Chao
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: National Center for International Research of Micro-Nano Molding Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: National Center for International Research of Micro-Nano Molding Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Center for International Research of Micro-Nano Molding Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA. Electronic address: turng@engr.wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Lih-Sheng
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Turng
mesh_terms: D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000737:chemistry*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000737:chemistry*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry*; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D005780:Gelatin
keywords: Cell-matrix interactions; Electrospinning; Endothelium regeneration; Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs); Tissue engineering scaffold