Electrospun hybrid nanofibrous meshes with adjustable performance for potential use in soft tissue engineering

Abstract

Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds have gained extensive attention in the fields of soft tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this study, a series of biodegradable nanofibrous meshes were fabricated by electrospinning poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDO) blends with various mass ratios. All the as-developed PCL/PPDO nanofibrous meshes possessed smooth and highly aligned fiber morphology. The mean fiber diameter was 521.5 ± 76.6 nm for PCL meshes and 485.8 ± 88.9 nm for PPDO meshes, and the mean fiber diameter seemed to present a decreasing tendency with the increasing of the PPDO component. For pure PCL meshes, the contact angle was about 117.5 ± 1.6°, the weight loss ratio was roughly 0.2% after 10 weeks of degradation, and the tensile strength was 41.2 ± 2.3 MPa in the longitudinal direction and 4.2 ± 0.1 MPa in the transverse direction. It was found that the surface hydrophilicity and in vitro degradation properties of PCL/PPDO meshes apparently increased, but the mechanical properties of PCL/PPDO meshes obviously decreased when more PPDO component was introduced. The biological tests showed that 4:1 PCL/PPDO nanofibrous meshes and 1:1 PCL/PPDO nanofibrous meshes could obviously promote the adhesion and proliferation of human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells more than pure PCL and PPDO meshes and 1:4 PCL/PPDO meshes. The results demonstrated that it is feasible to adjust the surface hydrophilicity, degradation profile, and mechanical properties as well as biological properties of as-obtained nanofibrous meshes by blending PCL and PPDO components. This study provides meaningful reference and guidance for the design and development of PCL/PPDO hybrid nanofibrous scaffolds for soft tissue engineering research and application.