Pendant Functionalized Polyester Nanofibers with Dual Cargo Release.

Abstract

Common polymeric biomaterials lack the ability to control the release of multiple bioactive compounds due to their inherent lack of functionality. These materials often require additional components or complicated fabrication techniques to achieve the separate release profiles desired for wound healing and tissue engineering applications. This prevents many biomaterials from being translated to the clinic, because the complexity of the wound environment necessitates temporal control of multiple additives for effective healing. Electrospun nanofibers comprised of a functional polymer would allow for separate release profiles of multiple bioactive compounds through covalent conjugation or tuning noncovalent interactions. In this work, two fluorescent dyes as model drugs were released from functional polyester electrospun mats. Two mats were fabricated: one in which both dyes were blended into the electrospinning solution and one in which one dye was blended and the other was covalently conjugated to the polymer. Average fiber diameters were determined using scanning electron microscopy, while fluorescence microscopy showed the presence of both dyes in the fibers. Dye release was tracked using UV-vis spectroscopy by comparing measured values to standard curves. Finally, degradation of the mats was tracked using gel permeation chromatography. With this functional polyester platform, distinct release profiles were achieved for two model drugs. Not only does the release of two model drugs show potential for the future use of this polymer platform in the applications of wound healing and tissue engineering but also the ability to incorporate several distinct conjugation chemistries is of great benefit.