Blow-spun chitosan/PEG/PLGA nanofibers as a novel tissue engineering scaffold with antibacterial properties

Abstract

Blow spinning is continuing to gain attention in tissue engineering, as the resultant nanofibrous structures can be used to create a biomimetic environment. In this study, blow spinning was used to construct nanofiber scaffolds with up to 10 % chitosan and poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) in the absence or presence of poly(ethylene glycol). Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that nanofibers were distributed randomly to form three-dimensional mats. With respect to chitosan concentration, the average fiber diameter did not differ statistically in either the absence or presence of poly(ethylene glycol). In poly(ethylene glycol)-formulations, the average fiber diameter ranged from (981.9 ± 611.3) nm to (1139.2 ± 814.2) nm. In vitro cellular metabolic activity and proliferation studies using keratinized rat squamous epithelial cells (RL-65) showed that cytocompatibility was not compromised with the addition of poly(ethylene glycol). The cell responses at lower (1 and 2.5 %) chitosan concentrations were not significantly different from the groups without chitosan or no scaffold when cultivated for 3, 6, or 9 days. However, >15 % reduction in cellular responses were observed at 10 % chitosan. In presence of poly(ethylene glycol), nearly a 1-log incremental reduction in the number of colony forming units of Streptococcus mutans occurred as the chitosan concentration increased from 0-1 to 2.5 %. Bacterial preparations tested with poly(ethylene glycol) and 5 or 10 % chitosan were not significantly different than the positive kill control. Taken together, the most favorable conditions for attaining cytocompatibility and maintaining antibacterial functionality existed in poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) blow-spun scaffolds with integrated 1 or 2.5 % chitosan.

In vitroandin vivobiological characterization of poly(lactic acid) fiber scaffolds synthesized by air jet spinning

“…Our results by SEM characterization demonstrated that we were able to collect and fabricate, by the AJT, PLA membrane scaffolds with nanometric, random fiber structure, where the concentration of PLA exerts a direct effect on the mean diameter size of the fibers. This nanometric fiber structure could achieve the desirable functionality, mimicking the intricate interaction between cells and their microenvironment with respect to the ECM and our results are in accordance with recent studies using the AJT technology, that report similar fiber diameter structure and validate good biocompatibility properties of these spun mats . Characterization of chemical and microstructural properties of the synthesized PLA nanofiber scaffolds demonstrated that the membrane presents an amorphous structure that remain amorphous respect to the percent of concentration of the PLA solution.…”

“…This nanometric fiber structure could achieve the desirable functionality, mimicking the intricate interaction between cells and their microenvironment with respect to the ECM and our results are in accordance with recent studies using the AJT technology, that report similar fiber diameter structure and validate good biocompatibility properties of these spun mats. 11,16,18 Characterization of chemical and microstructural properties of the synthesized PLA nanofiber scaffolds demonstrated that the membrane presents an amorphous structure that remain amorphous respect to the percent of concentration of the PLA solution. This amorphous phase is in agreement with reports that PLA treated with ethanol afford very broad peak without any sharp crystalline peaks, indicating that the ethanol is not able to induce PLA crystallization.…”

“…An alternative novel technology for fabricating polymeric fibers scaffolds have been reported in literature and is referred as air‐jet spinning (AJS) or solution blow spinning . This method utilizes a specialized spinning system nozzle, such as a commercial airbrush, a surface for collecting polymer fibers, and compressed gas through which the polymer solution and a pressurized gas are simultaneously ejected to form the fiber morphology .…”

“…[8][9][10] An alternative novel technology for fabricating polymeric fibers scaffolds have been reported in literature and is referred as air-jet spinning (AJS) or solution blow spinning. [11][12][13] This method utilizes a specialized spinning system nozzle, such as a commercial airbrush, a surface for collecting polymer fibers, and compressed gas through which the polymer solution and a pressurized gas are simultaneously ejected to form the fiber morphology. [14][15][16] This technique produces fibers within the same size range as electrospinning, and fiber morphology may be controlled by several parameters, such as polymer concentration, surface tension, working distance, spinning gas, temperature, gas pressure, and evaporation rate.…”

Bioactive Polymeric Materials for Tissue Repair

“…Convincing evidence has also been presented indicating ACP as supportive of cell attachment, growth, and differentiation [29,30,31,32]. Our group has developed an alternative to traditional electrospinning by advancing airbrushing (synonymous with blow spinning) as a platform technology that is capable of synthesizing open structure nanofibers at high rates [33,34,35]. As a second objective, we focused on (1) feasibility of incorporating ACP into various polymer fibers and assessing the release of Ca and P from these composite materials; and (2) evaluation of cellular responses to these materials.…”