Abstract
In order to improve the water-resistant ability of silk fibroin (SF) and SF/P(LLA-CL) blended nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications, 75% (v/v) ethanol vapor was used to post-treat electrospun nanofibers. SEM indicated that the treated SF and SF/P(LLA-CL) nanofibrous scaffolds maintained a nanofibrous structure and possessed good water-resistant ability. Characterization of 13C CP-MAS NMR clarified that 75% (v/v) ethanol vapor could induce SF conformation from random coil or α-helix to β-sheet. Although the water contact showed that treated SF/P(LLA-CL) blended nanofibrous scaffolds were hydrophobic, the water uptake demonstrated that their hydrophilicity was greatly superior to those of pure P(LLA-CL) nanofibrous scaffolds. Furthermore, the treated SF/P(LLA-CL) nanofibrous scaffolds, both in dry state and wet state, could retain good mechanical properties. Therefore, 75% (v/v) ethanol vapor treatment might be an ideal method to treat SF and SF/P(LLA-CL) nanofibrous scaffolds for biomedical applications.
Highlights
Natural extracellular matrix(ECM)is composed of a cross-linked porous network of nano-sized multifibril collagens embedded in glycosaminoglycans [1,2]
scanning electronic microscope (SEM) micrographs and diameter distributions of electrospun silk fibroin (SF)/P(LLA-CL) nanofibrous scaffolds before and after being treated with 75% (v/v) ethanol vapor were shown in Figures 1 and 2
The results indicated that 75% (v/v) ethanol vapor was effective to treat SF/P(LLA-CL) nanofibers
Summary
Natural extracellular matrix(ECM)is composed of a cross-linked porous network of nano-sized multifibril collagens embedded in glycosaminoglycans [1,2]. The electrospun scaffolds should physically resemble the nanofibrous features of extracellular matrix (ECM) with suitable mechanical properties for maintaining the stability of the scaffolds before the cells can produce their own ECM [9]. In order to improve mechanical properties, we have successfully fabricated electrospun SF/P(LLA-CL) blended nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering application. We found 75% (v/v) ethanol vapor treatment process induced silk fibroin conformation from random coils to β-sheet, and was an effective sterilization approach to SF nanofibrous scaffolds [16] Such a method is advantageous for nanofibrous matrices containing bioactive materials for tissue engineering applications, which could avoid bioactive materials loss to a large extent in post-treatment and sterilization process. The properties of nanofibrous scaffolds, after being treated with 75% (v/v) ethanol vapor, such as morphologies, hydrophilicity and mechanical properties were evaluated
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