Abstract
In this work, we report the electrospinning and mechano-morphological characterizations of scaffolds based on blends of a novel poly(ester urethane urea) (PHH) and poly(dioxanone) (PDO). At the optimized electrospinning conditions, PHH, PDO and blend PHH/PDO in Hexafluroisopropanol (HFIP) solution yielded bead-free non-woven random nanofibers with high porosity and diameter in the range of hundreds of nanometers. The structural, morphological, and biomechanical properties were investigated using Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, and tensile tests. The blended scaffold showed an elastic modulus (~5 MPa) with a combination of the ultimate tensile strength (2 ± 0.5 MPa), and maximum elongation (150% ± 44%) in hydrated conditions, which are comparable to the materials currently being used for soft tissue applications such as skin, native arteries, and cardiac muscles applications. This demonstrates the feasibility of an electrospun PHH/PDO blend for cardiac patches or vascular graft applications that mimic the nanoscale structure and mechanical properties of native tissue.
Highlights
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With the scaffold being a major component of tissue engineering, mimicking closely the morphological, mechanical, and functional properties of native extracellular matrices (ECM) has attracted a great deal of attention in the fabrication of scaffolds for tissue regeneration [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
This study suggested the local hypoxia accompanied by the acidic degradation products is suspected to be the stimulus for overexpression of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) from the smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and/or endothelium to induce chondroid metaplasia and these metaplastic areas were found to be calcified after 24 weeks
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The manufacturing control over the diameter and pore size of these mesh structures in electrospun fibers and meshes provides an extra degree of flexibility for tissue engineering applications This control over the fibrous structures and their diameter can be achieved by a myriad of control mechanisms over the experimental parameters and a range of material choices during the electrospinning process [26]. PDO is a semi-crystalline, biodegradable polymer commonly used as bioabsorbable suture material in clinical use, whose mechanical strength is capable of withstanding pulsatile blood flow It possesses shape memory, which is a very attractive material for vascular graft applications due to its various advantageous characteristics like its ease of handling, ease of suture placement, suture retention, and biocompatibility [38,39,40].
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