Tailoring the porosity and pore size of electrospun synthetic human elastin scaffolds for dermal tissue engineering

Abstract

We obtained low and high porosity synthetic human elastin scaffolds by adapting low (1 mL/h) and high (3 mL/h) flow rates respectively during electrospinning. Physical, mechanical and biological properties of these scaffolds were screened to identify the best candidates for the bioengineering of dermal tissue. SHE scaffolds that were electrospun at the higher flow rate presented increased fiber diameter and greater average pore size and over doubling of overall scaffold porosity. Both types of scaffold displayed Young’s moduli comparable to that of native elastin, but the high porosity scaffolds possessed higher tensile strength. Low and high porosity scaffolds supported early attachment, spreading and proliferation of primary dermal fibroblasts, but only high porosity scaffolds supported active cell migration and infiltration into the scaffold. High porosity SHE scaffolds promoted cell persistence and scaffold remodeling in vitro with only moderate scaffold contraction. The scaffolds persisted for at least 6 weeks in a mouse subcutaneous implantation study with fibroblasts on the exterior and infiltrating, evidence of scaffold remodeling including de novo collagen synthesis and early stage angiogenesis.