A Novel Electrospun Scaffold For Collagenous Connective Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

Connective tissues contain collagen fibers bound together. A suitable scaffold for regenerating connective tissue should be able to help collagen synthesis. Electrospun nanofibers are highly used in tissue engineering applications as scaffolds. It has been determined that fibrous scaffolds with aligned structures are more suitable substrates for cell orientation, proliferation, and adhesion. In this study, we fabricated a novel electrospun scaffold. At first, we fabricated an electrospun layer from gelatin. Afterward, we put electrospun PLLA yarns on the layer's surface and then fabricated another electrospun gelatin layer on them to have an aligned fibrous structure (sheet+yarn). The morphological properties of the sheet+yarn were measured. We studied fibroblast’s behavior in contact with the sheet+yarn using MTT and Sirius red assays. The morphological results showed that there was not a significant difference between the sheet+yarn and a simple electrospun gelatin layer that did not contain yarns (sheet). But, the results of in vitro assays showed that fibroblasts produced more collagen and proliferated better in contact with the sheet+yarn in comparison with the sheet. So, the sheet+yarn as a novel electrospun scaffold can be used for collagenous connective tissue regeneration.