Development of core-shell coaxially electrospun composite PCL/chitosan scaffolds.

This study was related to combining of synthetic Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and natural chitosan polymers to develop three dimensional (3D) PCL/chitosan core-shell scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. The scaffolds were fabricated with coaxial electrospinning technique and the characterizations of the samples were done by thickness and contact angle (CA) measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, mechanical and PBS absorption and shrinkage tests. The average inter-fiber diameter values were calculated for PCL (0.717±0.001µm), chitosan (0.660±0.007µm) and PCL/chitosan core-shell scaffolds (0.412±0.003µm), also the average inter-fiber pore size values exhibited decreases of 66.91% and 61.90% for the PCL and chitosan scaffolds respectively, compared to PCL/chitosan core-shell ones. XPS analysis of the PCL/chitosan core-shell structures exhibited the characteristic peaks of PCL and chitosan polymers. The cell culture studies (MTT assay, Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM) and SEM analyses) carried out with L929 ATCC CCL-1 mouse fibroblast cell line proved that the biocompatibility performance of the scaffolds. The obtained results showed that the created micro/nano fibrous structure of the PCL/chitosan core-shell scaffolds in this study increased the cell viability and proliferation on/within scaffolds.

DBD atmospheric plasma-modified, electrospun, layer-by-layer polymeric scaffolds for L929 fibroblast cell cultivation.

This paper reported a study related to atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) Ar + O2 and Ar + N2 plasma modifications to alter surface properties of 3D PCL/Chitosan/PCL layer-by-layer hybrid scaffolds and to improve mouse fibroblast (L929 ATCC CCL-1) cell attachment, proliferation, and growth. The scaffolds were fabricated using electrospinning technique and each layer was electrospun sequentially on top of the other. The surface modifications were performed with an atmospheric pressure DBD plasma under different gas flow rates (50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 sccm) and for different modification times (0.5-7 min), and then the chemical and topographical characterizations of the modified samples were done by contact angle (CA) measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The samples modified with Ar + O2 plasma for 1 min under 70 cm(3)/min O2 flow rate (71.077° ± 3.578) showed a 18.83% decrease compare to unmodified samples' CA value (84.463° ± 3.864). Comparing with unmodified samples, the average fiber diameter values for plasma-modified samples by Ar + O2 (1 min 70 sccm) and Ar + N2 (40 s 70 sccm) increased 40.756 and 54.295%, respectively. Additionally, the average inter-fiber pore size values exhibited decrease of 37.699 and 48.463% for the same Ar + O2 and Ar + N2 plasma-modified samples, respectively, compare to unmodified samples. Biocompatibility performance was determined with MTT assay, fluorescence, Giemsa, and confocal imaging as well as SEM. The results showed that Ar + O2-based plasma modification increased the hydrophilicity and oxygen functionality of the surface, thus affecting the cell viability and proliferation on/within scaffolds.