Effect of Silk Fibroin on Cell Viability in Electrospun Scaffolds of Polyethylene Oxide.

Gabriela Carrasco-Torres,Ramón Román-Doval,Anaí Valencia-Lazcano,Verónica Vásquez-Garzón,Rafael Baltiérrez-Hoyos,Manuel Valdés-Madrigal,Eduard De la Cruz-Burelo

doi:10.3390/polym11030451

Abstract

In this study, a coating from electrospun silk fibroin was performed with the aim to modify the surface of breast implants. We evaluated the effect of fibroin on polymeric matrices of poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) to enhance cell viability, adhesion, and proliferation of HaCaT human keratinocytes to enhance the healing process on breast prosthesis implantation. We electrospun six blends of fibroin and PEO at different concentrations. These scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, contact angle measurements, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. We obtained diverse network conformations at different combinations to examine the regulation of cell adhesion and proliferation by modifying the microstructure of the matrix to be applied as a potential scaffold for coating breast implants. The key contribution of this work is the solution it provides to enhance the healing process on prosthesis implantation considering that the use of these PEO–fibroin scaffolds reduced (p < 0.05) the amount of pyknotic nuclei. Therefore, viability of HaCaT human keratinocytes on PEO–fibroin matrices was significantly improved (p < 0.001). These findings provide a rational strategy to coat breast implants improving biocompatibility.

Highlights

The modification of fibers has been used successfully to improve diverse applications, such as mimicking the properties of extracellular matrices, incorporating nanomaterials for biosensors, or to give specific characteristic to improve electrical and mechanical properties [1,2,3]
Fibroin was extracted from Bombyx mori cocoon shells and desalted by ultrafiltration which reduced the desalting time up to 90% in comparison to the dialysis methods
We examined the potential of electrospun PEO–fibroin scaffold as regeneration of

Summary

Introduction

The modification of fibers has been used successfully to improve diverse applications, such as mimicking the properties of extracellular matrices, incorporating nanomaterials for biosensors, or to give specific characteristic to improve electrical and mechanical properties [1,2,3]. Surface modification has the purpose of enhancing the surface of a material by modifying its original chemical, physical, or biological surface characteristics [4,5]. The surface of many materials may be tailored to improve their properties such as topography, chemistry, and wettability to create a micro-environment that influences protein adsorption, cell adhesion, and bioactivity [6,7]. Breast implants should interact with the tissue to create an appropriate bond and initiate the wound-healing process [8]. Epithelialization is an essential piece of wound healing. Keratinocytes start to proliferate so that a suitable supply of cells encloses the wound

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Discussion

Conclusion