Novel approach towards aligned PCL-Collagen nanofibrous constructs from a benign solvent system

Summary

When skeletal muscle is badly damaged by trauma it often cannot regenerate on its own, so tissue-engineered scaffolds that guide muscle cells are a promising therapy. Highly aligned fibres are especially useful because muscle tissue is strongly oriented. Aligned scaffolds of polycaprolactone (PCL) are well established, and adding collagen makes them more bioactive — but collagen-containing fibres have usually been electrospun from HFIP, a highly corrosive fluorinated solvent. This study shows that aligned PCL–collagen biocomposite nanofibres can instead be produced by electrospinning from environmentally benign, dilute acetic acid, with ultrasonic treatment used to help dissolve the PCL. The result is a greener route to oriented, collagen-containing nanofibre constructs suited to skeletal-muscle tissue engineering, avoiding the hazards of traditional fluorinated solvents.

Authors & Affiliations

• Dirk Dippold

  Institute of Polymer Materials & Dept. of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany
• Aijia Cai

  Dept. of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, FAU, Germany
• Moritz Hardt

  Dept. of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, FAU, Germany
• Aldo R. Boccaccini

  Institute of Biomaterials, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany
• Raymund Horch

  Dept. of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, FAU, Germany
• Justus P. Beier

  Dept. of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, FAU, Germany
• Dirk W. Schubert

  Institute of Polymer Materials, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany

Topics

Materials

Linari Electrospinning Systems