Engineering multifunctional bactericidal nanofibers for abdominal hernia repair

Samson Afewerki,Thomas J Webster,Mirian M M De Paula,Samarah Vargas Harb,Xichi Wang,Fernanda Roberta Marciano,Nicole Bassous,Anderson Oliveira Lobo,Carla Roberta Tim,Guillermo U Ruiz-Esparza,Danquan Wang,Sushila Maharjan,Marcus Alexandre F Corat,Bartolomeu Cruz Viana

doi:10.1038/s42003-021-01758-2

Abstract

The engineering of multifunctional surgical bactericidal nanofibers with inherent suitable mechanical and biological properties, through facile and cheap fabrication technology, is a great challenge. Moreover, hernia, which is when organ is pushed through an opening in the muscle or adjacent tissue due to damage of tissue structure or function, is a dire clinical challenge that currently needs surgery for recovery. Nevertheless, post-surgical hernia complications, like infection, fibrosis, tissue adhesions, scaffold rejection, inflammation, and recurrence still remain important clinical problems. Herein, through an integrated electrospinning, plasma treatment and direct surface modification strategy, multifunctional bactericidal nanofibers were engineered showing optimal properties for hernia repair. The nanofibers displayed good bactericidal activity, low inflammatory response, good biodegradation, as well as optimal collagen-, stress fiber- and blood vessel formation and associated tissue ingrowth in vivo. The disclosed engineering strategy serves as a prominent platform for the design of other multifunctional materials for various biomedical challenges.

Highlights

The engineering of multifunctional surgical bactericidal nanofibers with inherent suitable mechanical and biological properties, through facile and cheap fabrication technology, is a great challenge
The integrated strategy comprising a combination of Electrospinning technology (ES), plasma treatment (PT), and further direct surface modification (DSM) (ES-PT-DSM) allowed for the facile fabrication of methacrylated PCL fibers (PCLMA)
For a scale-up process of the disclosed strategy, the fabrication methodology would most likely be employed in a one-pot or sequential manner, where each step of the fabrication process would be integrated into one reaction batch or several and each process are performed consecutively

Summary

Introduction

The engineering of multifunctional surgical bactericidal nanofibers with inherent suitable mechanical and biological properties, through facile and cheap fabrication technology, is a great challenge. Through an integrated electrospinning, plasma treatment and direct surface modification strategy, multifunctional bactericidal nanofibers were engineered showing optimal properties for hernia repair. 1234567890():,; The design and preparation of fibrous biomaterial scaffolds for various tissue engineering and biomedical applications that simultaneously possess appropriate mechanical, biological, and hydrophilic properties remain a clinical challenge[1]. Nature has always been an inspiration for improved biomaterial design and the ultimate paragon with its highly sophisticated materials and chemicals developed through innovative and highly efficient strategies[5] In this context, an approach to mimic nature in the design of an ultimate biomaterial could be through the flawless reproduction of nature’s own biomaterials and corresponding extracellular matrices (ECM)[6]. To overcome some of the limitations with PT mentioned above and to provide a solid fabrication process, PT can be merged with direct surface modification (DSM) leading to more permanent modification[22]

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Conclusion