Abstract
Since the first work by Laurencin and colleagues on the development of polymeric electrospinning for biomedical purposes, the use of electrospinning technology has found broad applications in such areas of tissue regeneration and drug delivery. More recently, coaxial electrospinning has emerged as an important technique to develop scaffolds for regenerative engineering incorporated with drug(s). However, the addition of a softer core layer leads to a reduction in mechanical properties. Here, novel robust tripolymeric triaxially electrospun fibrous scaffolds were developed with a polycaprolactone (PCL) (core layer), a 50:50 poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) (sheath layer) and a gelatin (intermediate layer) with a dual drug delivery capability was developed through modified electrospinning. A sharp increase in elastic modulus after the incorporation of PCL in the core of the triaxial fibers in comparison with uniaxial PLGA (50:50) and coaxial PLGA (50:50) (sheath)-gelatin (core) fibers was observed. Thermal analysis of the fibrous scaffolds revealed an interaction between the core-intermediate and sheath-intermediate layers of the triaxial fibers contributing to the higher tensile modulus. A simultaneous dual release of model small molecule Rhodamine B (RhB) and model protein Fluorescein isothiocynate (FITC) Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) conjugate incorporated in the sheath and intermediate layers of triaxial fibers was achieved. The tripolymeric, triaxial electrospun systems were seen to be ideal for the support of mesenchymal stem cell growth, as shrinkage of fibers normally found with conventional electrospun systems was minimized. These tripolymeric triaxial electrospun fibers that are biomechanically competent, biocompatible, and capable of dual drug release are designed for regenerative engineering and drug delivery applications.
Highlights
& Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America. *email: Triaxially electrospun fibers for multiple drug release have been more recently described[31,32,33,34,35]
To prepare drug loaded fibers, 0.25% w/v of rhodamine B (RhB) was added to 25% w/v PLGA(50:50) and 1% fluorescein isothiocynate (FITC) Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) conjugate was added to 25% w/v PLGA(50:50) or 2% w/v gelatin before electrospinning
HFP was chosen as the optimal solvent for electrospinning PLGA (50:50), gelatin and PCL fibers
Summary
& Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America. *email: Triaxially electrospun fibers for multiple drug release have been more recently described[31,32,33,34,35]. Release of active pharmaceuticals and model drugs have been investigated with an intermediate layer, attempts at creating simultaneous drug delivery from the sheath and intermediate layers of the triaxial electrospun fibers have been unexplored. Our belief was that the addition of a strong core layer to triaxially electrospun fibers could be used to create biomechanically functional electrospun scaffolds while the sheath and intermediate layer could be used for consecutive or simultaneous release of multiple drugs. The goal of the present study was to design triaxially electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) (core fiber layer), 50:50 poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) (sheath layer) and gelatin (intermediate layer) fibers capable of release of multiple drugs simultaneously. In our work multiple drug delivery was studied using a model small molecule rhodamine B (RhB) released from the sheath layer and a large molecule fluorescein isothiocynate (FITC) bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugate in the intermediate layer. Chemical reagents were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Inc. (St Louis, MO, USA) and Fisher Scientific, USA unless specified otherwise
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
