Cytocompatibility of Bilayer Scaffolds Electrospun from Chitosan/Alginate-Chitin Nanowhiskers

Abstract

In this work, a bilayer chitosan/sodium alginate scaffold was prepared via a needleless electrospinning technique. The layer of sodium alginate was electrospun over the layer of chitosan. The introduction of partially deacetylated chitin nanowhiskers (CNW) stabilized the electrospinning and increased the spinnability of the sodium alginate solution. A CNW concentration of 7.5% provided optimal solution viscosity and structurization due to electrostatic interactions and the formation of a polyelectrolyte complex. This allowed electrospinning of defectless alginate nanofibers with an average diameter of 200–300 nm. The overall porosity of the bilayer scaffold was slightly lower than that of a chitosan monolayer, while the average pore size of up to 2 μm was larger for the bilayer scaffold. This high porosity promoted mesenchymal stem cell proliferation. The cells formed spherical colonies on the chitosan nanofibers, but formed flatter colonies and monolayers on alginate nanofibers. The fabricated chitosan/sodium alginate bilayer material was deemed promising for tissue engineering applications.

Thermal Properties and Structural Features of Multilayer Films Based on Chitosan and Anionic Polysaccharides

“…This study was performed using crab shell chitosan (Bioprogress, Shchelkovo, Russia) with a viscosity average molecular weight (M η ) of 1.6 × 10 5 and a degree of deacetylation of 0.80 [9], sodium hyaluronate (Shandong Focuchem Biotech Co., Qufu, Shandong, China) with M η of 5.4 × 10 4 [27], sodium alginate (Qingdao Bright Moon Seaweed Group Co. Ltd., Qingdao, Shandong, China) with M η of 1.3 × 10 5 [28], and sodium sulfoethyl cellulose with M η of 1.4 × 10 4 and a degree of substitution of 0.80 (the sample was prepared and characterized according to [4]).…”

An Up‐to‐Date Review on Alginate Nanoparticles and Nanofibers for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications

“…For example, a bilayer scaffold consisting of chitosan and alginate-chitin nano-whiskers electrospun NFs was found to promote mesenchymal stem cell proliferation at the same time ensuring antibacterial properties. [250] Yet, a multilayered nanofibrous scaffold consisting of a sandwich-like structure comprised of two hydrophobic PCL nanofibrous layers and a hydrophilic alginate-based one was investigated for bone tissue regeneration. [251] The effect of multilayer deposition of NFs was observed in terms of an increase in the water absorption, a slower degradation rate, and improved mechanical properties together with marked ability to foster cell viability.…”

Electrospun Polysaccharidic Textiles for Biomedical Applications

“…These scaffolds exhibit increased mouse calvarial preosteoblast adhesion and proliferation compared to those made of alginate alone due to the presence of chitosan, which promotes the adsorption of serum proteins, while alginate is naturally nonadhesive to cells. Petrova et al [87,88] showed that the addition of the second electrospun layer of polyanion (hyaluronic acid or sodium alginate) on the freshly electrospun chitosan nanofibers induced the polyelectrolyte interaction that resulted in insoluble matrices with enhanced mechanical properties and good cytocompatibility with mesenchymal stem cells. Polysaccharide electrospun scaffolds have been intensively used to determine in vivo effects on calvaria bone defect models.…”