Modification of nanofibrous scaffolds to mimic extracellular matrix in physical and chemical structuring

Abstract

AbstractRegulating the surface chemistry and topography of the scaffolds is an effective way to improve the scaffolds' biocompatibility. A nanofibrous scaffold with topographical and chemical biomimicry to ECM was developed in this study. In which, PCL nanofibrous scaffold was employed as a substrate which was shish‐kebab structured first to provide the topographical similarity with ECM and then coated with polydopamine and arginylglycylaspartic acid (RGD) to endow the chemical biomimicry. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed the successful grafting of RGD on the scaffolds. It was proved that the introduced shish‐kebab structure and grafted RGD not only enhanced the surface roughness but also improved the surface wettability of the nanofibrous scaffolds. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exhibited a more flourishing living state onto the modified scaffolds. Moreover, the present modification method was further employed to graft other bioactive molecules (VEGF) onto the scaffold to further investigate its applicability. HEF1 fibroblast cells displayed great affinity on the modified scaffolds, indicating that the green modification approach was highly feasible to enhance the synthesized scaffolds' biocompatibility, which not only provides topographical similarity but also enhances the chemical biomimicry simultaneously.