Biological recognition
sites are very useful for biomedical purposes
and, more specifically, for polymeric scaffolds. However, synthetic
polymers are not capable of providing specific biological recognition
sites. To solve this inconvenience, functionalization of biological
moieties is typically performed, oftentimes via peptide binding. In
this sense, the main task is capturing the biological complexity of
a protein. This study proposes a possible alternative solution to
this challenge. Our approach is based on the combination of molecular
imprinting (MI) and electrospinning processes. We propose here an
alternative MI approach with polymeric structures, instead of using
cross-linkers and monomers as conventionally performed. Different
PCL–protein scaffolds were produced via electrospinning before
performing MI. Gelatin, collagen, and elastin were used as proteins.
Results evidenced that the MI process conducted with PCL electrospun
membranes was carried out with ionic interactions between the desired
molecules and the recognition sites formed. In addition, it has been
proved that MI was more efficient when using gelatin as a template.
This approach opens a new stage in the development of recognition
sites in scaffolds obtained with synthetic polymers and their application
for biomedical purposes.