Abstract
Lubrication is the key to efficient function of human tissues and has significant impact on the comfort level. However, the construction of a lubricating nanofibrous membrane has not been reported as yet, especially using a one-step surface modification method. Here, bioinspired by the superlubrication mechanism of articular cartilage, we successfully construct hydration-enhanced lubricating nanofibers via one-step in situ grafting of a copolymer synthesized by dopamine methacrylamide (DMA) and 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) onto electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers. The zwitterionic MPC structure provides the nanofiber surface with hydration lubrication behavior. The coefficient of friction (COF) of the lubricating nanofibrous membrane decreases significantly and is approximately 65% less than that of pure PCL nanofibers, which are easily worn out under friction regardless of hydration. The lubricating nanofibers, however, show favorable wear-resistance performance. Besides, they possess a strong antiadhesion ability of fibroblasts compared with pure PCL nanofibers. The cell density decreases approximately 9-fold, and the cell area decreases approximately 12 times on day 7. Furthermore, the in vivo antitendon adhesion data reveals that the lubricating nanofiber group has a significantly lower adhesion score and a better antitissue adhesion. Altogether, our developed hydration-enhanced lubricating nanofibers show promising applications in the biomedical field such as antiadhesive membranes.
Highlights
Electrospinning is a robust technology to fabricate functional nanofibers [1]
The 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum further indicated that poly (DMA-co-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC)) was successfully synthesized (Figure 1(e)), and the pMPC concentration could be adjusted by the raw ratio of dopamine methacrylamide (DMA) versus MPC
Chen et al [22] reported that the zwitterionic structure of pMPC was capable of strong adsorption of water molecules; we hypothesized that the pMPC-grafted nanofiber surface could form a stable hydrated layer that would further prevent cell adhesion (Figure 1(c))
Summary
Electrospinning is a robust technology to fabricate functional nanofibers [1]. Manipulating the composition, structure, and surface property enabled researchers to develop electrospun nanofibers with unique performances such as superhydrophobicity/hydrophilicity [2,3,4], piezoelectric conversion [5, 6], and multiple response [7, 8]. Electrospun nanofibers have found extensive applications in the energy, environment, and biomedical field [1]. In biomedical applications, adjusting the surface properties of the nanofibers (e.g., fiber orientation and patterned structure) is frequently employed to achieve specific cell adhesion and growth on fiber surfaces [9, 10]. Developing electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs) that can completely inhibit tissue adhesion may open up novel functional applications
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