Fabrication and characterization of electrospun laminin‐functionalized silk fibroin/poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibrous scaffolds for peripheral nerve regeneration

Abstract

The peripheral nerve regeneration is still one of the major clinical problems, which has received a great deal of attention. In this study, the electrospun silk fibroin (SF)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated and functionalized their surfaces with laminin (LN) without chemical linkers for potential use in the peripheral nerve tissue engineering. The morphology, surface chemistry, thermal behavior and wettability of the scaffolds were examined to evaluate their performance by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and water contact angle (WCA) measurements, respectively. The proliferation and viability of Schwann cells onto the surfaces of SF/PEO nanofibrous scaffolds were investigated using SEM and thiazolyl blue (MTT) assay. The results showed an improvement of SF conformation and surface hydrophilicity of SF/PEO nanofibers after methanol and O plasma treatments. The immunostaining observation indicated a continuous coating of LN on the scaffolds. Improving the surface hydrophilicity and LN functionalization significantly increased the cell proliferation and this was more prominent after 5 days of culture time. In conclusion, the obtained results revealed that the electrospun LN-functionalized SF/PEO nanofibrous scaffold could be a promising candidate for peripheral nerve tissue regeneration. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1595-1604, 2018.

High-Throughput Preparation of Silk Fibroin Nanofibers by Modified Bubble-Electrospinning

“…Through being dissolved and purified, SF obtained from degummed silk can be used to prepare a variety of biomaterials, such as membranes, gels and fibers. Among the forms of biomaterials, SF nanofiber membranes fabricated by electrospinning have great potential for biomedical applications because of their high ratio of surface area and superior mechanical properties [ 13 ].…”

Advances in Electrospinning of Natural Biomaterials for Wound Dressing

“…Electrospinning of Silk Fibroin/PEO. Rajabi et al [116] used a mixed aqueous solution of SF/PEO for the preparation of nanofiber scaffolds by electrospinning. In addition, laminin (LN) was immobilized on the surface of the SF/PEO nanofiber scaffold using O2 plasma treatment in order to improve the hydrophilicity of SF/PEO and provide a cell adhesion motif to produce a promising nerve scaffold.…”

Tailoring the Interface of Biomaterials to Design Effective Scaffolds

“…Furthermore, up to 5 days, cells seeded on the test scaffolds showed a spindle-like shape and extensions typical of SCs. Together, these results indicate that the coated scaffolds were more favorable for cell adhesion, growth, proliferation and for the maintenance of SCs phenotypic shape [ 122 ].…”