Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)-Based Nanofibrous Electrospun Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract

Tissue engineering (TE) holds an enormous potential to develop functional scaffolds resembling the structural organization of native tissues, to improve or replace biological functions and prevent organ transplantation. Amongst the many scaffolding techniques, electrospinning has gained widespread interest because of its outstanding features that enable the production of non-woven fibrous structures with a dimensional organization similar to the extracellular matrix. Various polymers can be electrospun in the form of three-dimensional scaffolds. However, very few are successfully processed using environmentally friendly solvents; poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is one of those. PVA has been investigated for TE scaffolding production due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, chemo-thermal stability, mechanical performance and, most importantly, because of its ability to be dissolved in aqueous solutions. Here, a complete overview of the applications and recent advances in PVA-based electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds fabrication is provided. The most important achievements in bone, cartilage, skin, vascular, neural and corneal biomedicine, using PVA as a base substrate, are highlighted. Additionally, general concepts concerning the electrospinning technique, the stability of PVA when processed, and crosslinking alternatives to glutaraldehyde are as well reviewed.

Spun Biotextiles in Tissue Engineering and Biomolecules Delivery Systems

“…Electrospinning has attracted much attention in biomedical research because of the inherent properties of the resultant nanofibers, such as large surface areas, high porosity and a continuous three-dimensional web structure [6,39,98]. The process involves the ejection of a polymer solution through a needle, termed the spinneret, that under an electric field is attracted towards a collector plate.…”

“…Regarding the biodegradable implants, the construct is expected to guide cell growth and tissue formation with time in three dimensions. As described in Section 2, there are many polymers capable of such a task [6,39,111]. Fibers and biotextiles have been successfully used in close contact with complex biological environments for a variety of applications, both by itself or loaded with specific biomolecules, due to their similarity with the tubular and fibrous architecture of many tissues, including muscle, tendon, ligament, bone and teeth [112].…”

“…Polymer fibers used in tissue engineering applications and biomolecule delivery systems can be fashioned using a variety of additive manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing. However, the most common are the spinning methods: wet spinning, dry spinning, melt spinning, gel spinning and electrospinning (co-spinning and co-axial spinning being the most recurrent for delivery systems) [1,6]. All of these are based on the extrusion of polymer melts or solutions through a spinneret under controlled operating, solution and environment conditions.…”

Electrospun Nanocomposites Containing Cellulose and Its Derivatives Modified with Specialized Biomolecules for an Enhanced Wound Healing

“…Dressings assembled while using nanofibers, produced via electrospinning, have shown clear advantages over conventional wound dressings. They resemble the morphological structure of the extracellular matrix (ECM) due to their nanoscale features, easily incorporating biomolecules or nanoparticles of interest, high porosity and large surface area [16,17]. In addition, these electrospun wound dressings have also shown good hemostasis, absorbability, and oxygen permeability, which are determinant factors for a fast and successful wound healing [18].…”

Electrospun Nanomaterials: Applications in Food, Environmental Remediation, and Bioengineering

“…In this sense, polymers also offer a large collection of both natural, but also synthetic, electrospinnable compounds that are non-toxic and biodegradable, as well as biocompatible [ 4 , 10 ]. Electrospun nanofibers made of such biomaterials are thus suitable for applications involving direct (and indirect) contact with biological systems, which mostly comprise applications within the biomedical [ 1 , 4 , 11 , 13 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], but also the environmental protection [ 11 , 16 ] and the food packaging fields [ 11 , 20 , 21 ].…”