Electrospun natural- artificial synthetic polymer blended nanofibers and their influence on cellular adhesion, proliferation and migration

The scaffold compositions played different roles on cellular biological functions. In this study, we developed polycaprolactone (PCL) based nanofibers composed of natural protein and polysaccharides (hyaluronan (HA), silk fibroin (SF)) via electrospinning technology. These nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle. Furthermore, we evaluated the potential of different composite nanofibers as tissue engineering scaffolds. In vitro cultivation of human primary skin fibroblasts on the SF-based scaffolds showed a significant increase in cell proliferation. A significant number of cells were found to have well-developed cytoskeleton on PCL/SF nanofibers. Addition of HA component transformed current PCL and PCL/SF components into hydrophilic fibers. Importantly, HA-based scaffolds significantly enhanced cell filopodia protrusions and migration in vitro. PCL/SF/HA nanofibers could combine the advantages of SF and HA. These findings suggest that such multiple blended nanofibers may offer possibilities to tissue engineering application.