Abstract
Biosynthetic materials have emerged as one of the most exciting and productive fields in polymer chemistry due to their widespread adoption and potential applications in tissue engineering (TE) research. In this work, we report the synthesis of a poly(ε-caprolactone)-graft-collagen (PCL-g-Coll) copolymer. We combine its good mechanical and biodegradable PCL properties with the great biological properties of type I collagen as a functional material for TE. PCL, previously dissolved in dimethylformamide/dichloromethane mixture, and reacted with collagen using carbodiimide coupling chemistry. The synthesised material was characterised physically, chemically and biologically, using pure PCL and PCL/Coll blend samples as control. Infrared spectroscopy evidenced the presence of amide I and II peaks for the conjugated material. Similarly, XPS evidenced the presence of C–N and N–C=O bonds (8.96 ± 2.02% and 8.52 ± 0.63%; respectively) for PCL-g-Coll. Static contact angles showed a slight decrease in the conjugated sample. However, good biocompatibility and metabolic activity was obtained on PCL-g-Coll films compared to PCL and blend controls. After 3 days of culture, fibroblasts exhibited a spindle-like morphology, spreading homogeneously along the PCL-g-Coll film surface. We have engineered a functional biosynthetic polymer that can be processed by electrospinning.
Highlights
The field of tissue engineering (TE) is primarily concerned with the fabrication of scaffolds for cellular growth and tissue regeneration
The successful collagen grafting to PCL has been assessed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and FTIR-ATR
The typical intensity was found in the latter. This result was confirmed by XPS due to the presence of an N1s bands of amide I and II of collagen were detected in both PCL-g-Coll and PCL/Coll blend; lower
Summary
The field of tissue engineering (TE) is primarily concerned with the fabrication of scaffolds for cellular growth and tissue regeneration. An alternative approach to the mixing is to coat PCL electrospun fibres with collagen This effect of nanofiber surface coating has been evaluated by the research group of Prof Ramakrishna that prepared collagen-coated PCL nanofibers (in the form of a core-shell structure) by a coaxial electrospinning technique. A similar core-shell PCL/Coll structure has been described recently by Kim [20], combining the use of an electro-hydrodynamic jet and a bio-printing process They used a core/shell nozzle in the process and manipulated the various concentrations and flow rates of PCL solution in the core region so that variable mechanical properties of the scaffold could be achieved. The surface functionalization made the PCL scaffold hydrophilic and favourable for cell adhesion The chondrocytes maintained their healthy phenotypes within the collagen-grafted.
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