TY - JOUR

T1 - Impact of setup orientation on blend electrospinning of poly-ε-caprolactonegelatin scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering

AU - Suresh, Sinduja

AU - Gryshkov, Oleksandr

AU - Glasmacher, Birgit

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) for the Cluster of Excellence REBIRTH (EXC 62/1). We thank M.S. Balamuruganandam for relevant Master Thesis work, Dr. rer. nat. Katerina Zelena for laboratory support and Prof. Dr Ir. Willem F. Wolkers for use of and assistance with the FTIR spectroscope. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2018. Copyright: Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2018/10/31

Y1 - 2018/10/31

N2 - Introduction: This article explores the effect of horizontal and vertical setups on blend electrospinning with two polymers having vastly different properties - poly-ε-caprolactone and gelatin, and subsequent effect of the resulting microstructure on viability of seeded cells. Methods: Poly-ε-caprolactone and gelatin of varying blend concentrations were electrospun in horizontal and vertical setup orientations. NIH 3T3 fibroblasts were seeded on these scaffolds to assess cell viability changes in accordance with change in microstructure. Results: Blend electrospinning yielded a heterogeneous microstructure in the vertical orientation beyond a critical concentration of gelatin, and a homogeneous microstructure in the horizontal orientation. Unblended poly-ε-caprolactone electrospinning showed no significant difference in fibre diameter or pore size in either orientation. Mechanical testing showed reduced elasticity when poly-ε-caprolactone is blended with gelatin but an overall increase in tensile strength in the vertically spun samples. Cells on vertically spun samples showed significantly higher viabilities by day 7. Discussion: The composite microstructure obtained in vertically spun poly-ε-caprolactone -gelatin blends has a positive effect on viability of seeded cells. Such scaffolds can be considered suitable candidates for cardiovascular tissue engineering where cell infiltration is crucial.

AB - Introduction: This article explores the effect of horizontal and vertical setups on blend electrospinning with two polymers having vastly different properties - poly-ε-caprolactone and gelatin, and subsequent effect of the resulting microstructure on viability of seeded cells. Methods: Poly-ε-caprolactone and gelatin of varying blend concentrations were electrospun in horizontal and vertical setup orientations. NIH 3T3 fibroblasts were seeded on these scaffolds to assess cell viability changes in accordance with change in microstructure. Results: Blend electrospinning yielded a heterogeneous microstructure in the vertical orientation beyond a critical concentration of gelatin, and a homogeneous microstructure in the horizontal orientation. Unblended poly-ε-caprolactone electrospinning showed no significant difference in fibre diameter or pore size in either orientation. Mechanical testing showed reduced elasticity when poly-ε-caprolactone is blended with gelatin but an overall increase in tensile strength in the vertically spun samples. Cells on vertically spun samples showed significantly higher viabilities by day 7. Discussion: The composite microstructure obtained in vertically spun poly-ε-caprolactone -gelatin blends has a positive effect on viability of seeded cells. Such scaffolds can be considered suitable candidates for cardiovascular tissue engineering where cell infiltration is crucial.

KW - Biocompatibility

KW - Fibre diameter

KW - Infiltration

KW - Polymer blends

KW - Pore size

KW - Vascular graft

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055625799&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0391398818803478

DO - 10.1177/0391398818803478

M3 - Article

C2 - 30376770

AN - SCOPUS:85055625799

VL - 41

SP - 801

EP - 810

JO - International Journal of Artificial Organs

JF - International Journal of Artificial Organs

SN - 0391-3988

IS - 11

ER -