Electrospun PCL Fiber Mats Incorporating Multi-Targeted B and Co Co-Doped Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles for Angiogenesis.

Si Chen,Kai Zheng,Liliana Liverani,Hana Kaňková,Dagmar Galusková,Dušan Galusek,Aldo R. Boccaccini,Martin Michálek

doi:10.3390/ma13184010

Abstract

Vascularization is necessary in tissue engineering to keep adequate blood supply in order to maintain the survival and growth of new tissue. The synergy of biologically active ions with multi-target activity may lead to superior angiogenesis promotion in comparison to single-target approaches but it has been rarely investigated. In this study, polycaprolactone (PCL) fiber mats embedded with B and Co co-doped bioactive glass nanoparticles (BCo.BGNs) were fabricated as a tissue regeneration scaffold designed for promoting angiogenesis. BCo.NBGs were successfully prepared with well-defined spherical shape using a sol-gel method. The PCL fiber mats embedding co-doped bioactive glass nanoparticles were fabricated by electrospinning using benign solvents. The Young’s moduli of the nanoparticle containing PCL fiber mats were similar to those of the neat fiber mats and suitable for scaffolds utilized in soft tissue repair approaches. The mats also showed non-cytotoxicity to ST-2 cells. PCL fiber mats containing BCo.BGNs with a relatively high content of B and Co promoted the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor to a greater extent than PCL fiber mats with a relatively low B and Co contents, which demonstrates the potential of dual ion release (B and Co) from bioactive glasses to enhance angiogenesis in soft tissue engineering.

Highlights

Tissue engineering strategies, including the regeneration, repair and healing of bone [1], myocardium [2], skin [3] and other soft tissues, use temporary synthetic scaffolds to aid the natural healing of tissue defects
After immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 7 days, a few corrosion pits, which are indicated by the white arrows on the micrographs, but no hydroxycarbonate apatite (HCA) crystals, were observed on the surface of the BCo.bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs)
B could not be detected in the culture medium of PCL-B5Co2, which is consistent with the B release behavior of BCo.BGNs. Both B and Co were detected in the culture medium of PCL-B10Co4. These results indicate that PCL-BCo.BGNs mats with a high content of B and Co may exhibit a synergistic effect of the two ions, leading to the increase of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion from ST-2 cells after 1 week of cell culture

Summary

Introduction

Tissue engineering strategies, including the regeneration, repair and healing of bone [1], myocardium [2], skin [3] and other soft tissues, use temporary synthetic scaffolds to aid the natural healing of tissue defects. Electrospinning is a well-known method for fabricating micro- and nano-fiber mats from polymer solutions or melts [4]. This technique has been widely used in the manufacturing of tissue-engineered scaffolds and drug delivery systems [5]. Fiber mats constructed by electrospinning possess porosity and mechanical properties appropriate to applications in tissue engineering [5,6,7,8], being suitable as temporary scaffolds to support new tissue growth. Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL), as a common polymer used for the fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds by electrospinning [9,10], possesses a low degradation rate in aqueous solutions and the degradation products are non-toxic. Most solvents and mixtures of solvents and Materials 2020, 13, 4010; doi:10.3390/ma13184010 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials

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