Mechanical reinforcement of urinary bladder matrix by electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibers

Abstract

Abstract. For a successful repair and reconstruction of bladder tissue, fabrication of sca olds with proper biochemical and biomechanical characteristics is necessary. Decellularized bladder tissue has been proposed in previous studies as a gold standard material for sca old fabrication. However, weak mechanical properties of such a loadbearing tissue has remained a challenge. Incorporation of both biological and synthetic materials has been known as an e ective strategy for improving mechanical and biological properties of the sca olds. In the present work, a simple process was developed to fabricate hybrid hydrogel sca olds with a biomimetic architecture from the natural urinary bladder extracellular matrix (ECM) and synthetic polycaprolactone (PCL) nano bers in order to obtain a sca old with optimized mechanical and biological properties for bladder tissue engineering. To this end, the ECM gel was derived from rat bladder, and the electrospun PCL nano bers were embedded within the gel, followed by incubating the composite to shape the hybrid hydrogel. These reinforced sca olds showed more structural integrity and mechanical stability. The introduced concept of nano ber-reinforced ECM can be applied as a promising platform in engineering of bladder or other load-bearing soft tissues.

Electrospinning: Application and Prospects for Urologic Tissue Engineering

“…To this end, PCL scaffold was embedded in rat acellular bladder ECM hydrogel and then the construct was freeze-dried. The resultant hybrid scaffold indicated considerably improved mechanical strength compared to ECM sponge, and contrary to the sponge it could be utilized in surgery ( Ghafari et al, 2017 ). Using a relatively similar strategy, Ajalloueian et al constructed a hybrid scaffold with electrospun PLGA and collagen.…”

The Specific Molecular Composition and Structural Arrangement of Eleutherodactylus Coqui Gular Skin Tissue Provide Its High Mechanical Compliance

“…Several groups have incorporated elastin to develop highly elastic biomaterials, with the caveat that most methods include crosslinkers that are inherently cytotoxic (i.e., glutaraldehyde, hexamethylene diisocyanate) [ 16 ]. Other strategies used either peptide materials [ 17 , 18 , 19 ] or micro/nanofiber reinforced materials [ 20 , 21 ] to enhance elasticity and compliance; however, they are still unable to match the high extensibility of the urinary bladder. The inability of these materials to recapitulate the biomechanics of the bladder warrants further investigation into other mechanisms of elasticity and compliance, such as tissue ultrastructure.…”

“…Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Murakumo et al identified a unique helical architecture of collagen type III within the bladder, suggesting a role of collagen architecture in its biomechanics [ 13 ]. Although some groups have incorporated micro/nanofibers [ 20 , 21 ] into the material, the fibers are deposited in its fully elongated state and simply act to increase tensile strength instead of compliance. While it is possible to electrospin intertwined nanofibers [ 22 ], the authors of the study did not apply their technique in scaffold construction.…”