Abstract
The ability of mimicking the extracellular matrix architecture has gained electrospun scaffolds a prominent space into the tissue engineering field. The high surface-to-volume aspect ratio of nanofibers increases their bioactivity while enhancing the bonding strength with the host tissue. Over the years, numerous polyesters, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), have been consolidated as excellent matrices for biomedical applications. However, this class of polymers usually has a high hydrophobic character, which limits cell attachment and proliferation, and therefore decreases biological interactions. In this way, functionalization of polyester-based materials is often performed in order to modify their interfacial free energy and achieve more hydrophilic surfaces. Herein, we report the preparation, characterization, and in vitro assessment of electrospun PLA fibers with low contents (0.1 wt %) of different curcuminoids featuring π-conjugated systems, and a central β-diketone unit, including curcumin itself. We evaluated the potential of these materials for photochemical and biomedical purposes. For this, we investigated their optical properties, water contact angle, and surface features while assessing their in vitro behavior using SH-SY5Y cells. Our results demonstrate the successful generation of homogeneous and defect-free fluorescent fibers, which are noncytotoxic, exhibit enhanced hydrophilicity, and as such greater cell adhesion and proliferation toward neuroblastoma cells. The unexpected tailoring of the scaffolds’ interfacial free energy has been associated with the strong interactions between the PLA hydrophobic sites and the nonpolar groups from curcuminoids, which indicate its role for releasing hydrophilic sites from both parts. This investigation reveals a straightforward approach to produce photoluminescent 3D-scaffolds with enhanced biological properties by using a polymer that is essentially hydrophobic combined with the low contents of photoactive and multifunctional curcuminoids
Highlights
The self-healing potential of many tissues in the human body is limited
While investigating the achievement of functional, homogeneous, and defect-free fibrous architectures by combining poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and low contents of curcuminoids, we evaluated the potential of these materials into future biomedical applications
Different curcuminoids were synthesized based on previous works.[34,36,37]
Summary
The self-healing potential of many tissues in the human body is limited. PLA degradation generates CO2 and H2O as subproducts; while both are obviously not hazardous, the combination of all its aforementioned properties makes this polyester an ideal candidate for tissue engineering.[25,26] as other polyesters, PLA presents a high hydrophobic character, limiting cell attachment and proliferation and, decreases biological interactions In this way, surface functionalization/modification of polymeric materials has been often performed to overcome these drawbacks.[27,28] This should be seen as a strategy to improve the scaffold functionality into the regenerative medicine field but many times as a mandatory step to create a successful final material. While investigating the achievement of functional, homogeneous, and defect-free fibrous architectures by combining PLA and low contents of curcuminoids, we evaluated the potential of these materials into future biomedical applications For this purpose, we investigated their optical properties, water contact angle, and surface properties while assessing their in vitro behavior using SH-SY5Y cells. Statistical significance between different treatments was determined using analysis of variance (ANOVA), post hoc Tukey’s test; p-values ≤0.05 were used to determine significant differences
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