Tailoring the gelatin/chitosan electrospun scaffold for application in skin tissue engineering: an in vitro study

Mohamad Pezeshki-Modaress,Sarah Rajabi,Mojgan Zandi

doi:10.1007/s40204-018-0094-1

Abstract

The nanofibrous structure containing protein and polysaccharide has good potential in tissue engineering. The present work aims to study the role of chitosan in gelatin/chitosan nanofibrous scaffolds fabricated through electrospinning process under optimized condition. The performance of chitosan in gelatin/chitosan nanofibrous scaffolds was evaluated by mechanical tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and in vitro cell culture on scaffolds with different gelatin/chitosan blend ratios. To assay the influence of chitosan ratio on biocompatibility of the electrospun gelatin/chitosan scaffolds for skin tissue engineering, the culturing of the human dermal fibroblast cells (HDF) on nanofibers in terms of attachment, morphology and proliferation was evaluated. Morphological observation showed that HDF cells were attached and spread well on highly porous gelatin/chitosan nanofibrous scaffolds displaying spindle-like shapes and stretching. The fibrous morphologies of electrospun gelatin/chitosan scaffolds in culture medium were maintained during 7 days. Cell proliferation on electrospun gelatin/chitosan scaffolds was quantified by MTS assay, which revealed the positive effect of chitosan content (around 30%) as well as the nanofibrous structure on the biocompatibility (cell proliferation and attachment) of substrates.Graphical abstract

Highlights

In recent years, electrospinning as a reliable technique for production of biomimetic scaffolds containing large network of interconnected pores has gained great attention in the literature (Bhardwaj and Kundu 2010; Dabouian et al 2018; Pezeshki-Modaress et al 2014; Saeed et al 2017).The human body tissue is composed of cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) which provide proper structural components as well as controlling the body processes, performances and wound healings (Sell et al 2010)
It has been reported that a higher ratio of gelatin (> 50% w/w) in the gelatin/chitosan blended scaffolds resulted in better cell attachment and proliferation by considering the literature (Jafari et al 2011; Modaress et al 2012; Pezeshki-Modaress et al 2013), but to the best of our knowledge there is no study on the influence of chitosan ratio on the nanofibrous scaffold properties in the literature
These results demonstrated that electrospun gelatin/chitosan scaffolds have maintained its nanofibrous morphology for 7 days at cell culture media employing suitable crosslinking conditions

Summary

Introduction

In recent years, electrospinning as a reliable technique for production of biomimetic scaffolds containing large network of interconnected pores has gained great attention in the literature (Bhardwaj and Kundu 2010; Dabouian et al 2018; Pezeshki-Modaress et al 2014; Saeed et al 2017).The human body tissue is composed of cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) which provide proper structural components as well as controlling the body processes, performances and wound healings (Sell et al 2010). As far as the study of the morphological characteristics of cells cultured onto the nanofibrous matrices and maintaining the fibrous structure of gelatin/chitosan substrate at cell culture medium were concerned, SEM observations were carried out.

Results

Conclusion