Abstract
Tissue engineering (TE) holds an enormous potential to develop functional scaffolds resembling the structural organization of native tissues, to improve or replace biological functions and prevent organ transplantation. Amongst the many scaffolding techniques, electrospinning has gained widespread interest because of its outstanding features that enable the production of non-woven fibrous structures with a dimensional organization similar to the extracellular matrix. Various polymers can be electrospun in the form of three-dimensional scaffolds. However, very few are successfully processed using environmentally friendly solvents; poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is one of those. PVA has been investigated for TE scaffolding production due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, chemo-thermal stability, mechanical performance and, most importantly, because of its ability to be dissolved in aqueous solutions. Here, a complete overview of the applications and recent advances in PVA-based electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds fabrication is provided. The most important achievements in bone, cartilage, skin, vascular, neural and corneal biomedicine, using PVA as a base substrate, are highlighted. Additionally, general concepts concerning the electrospinning technique, the stability of PVA when processed, and crosslinking alternatives to glutaraldehyde are as well reviewed.
Highlights
Tissue engineering (TE) provides a new way to recover lost physiological functions
Compared to the control blend, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/PVP, cell viability increased significantly by the presence of nHA, indicating an improved biocompatibility. It is clear from the data, that the addition of HA derivatives to polymeric matrices to play a major role in the mechanical performance of the electrospun nanofibers and cell response, firmly establishing these additives as essential for bone TE applications
Fibrous scaffolds can present aligned ultrafine fibers capable of encapsulating functional biomolecules that play an important role in tissue regeneration
Summary
Tissue engineering (TE) provides a new way to recover lost physiological functions It comprises the construction of natural and/or synthetic structures, allows the combination of these materials with growth factors and/or signaling molecules to modulate cell proliferation and differentiation, and develop constructs resembling the extracellular matrix (ECM) [1]. Uniaxially aligned nanofibers have shown higher efficiency to guide cell migration than randomly organized fibers; they have not been successful in all applications, in specific wound treatments their irregular shape is known to compromise the healing process [6] This technique allows to control the morphology, porosity and fiber diameter of the scaffold, to fit the requirements of specific applications, by adjusting the processing parameters, using simple and low maintenance settings [7]. Even though reviews have been published about electrospinning, to this moment none has focused on the TE breakthroughs introduced by the processing of PVA in the form of nanofibers using this technique
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