Poly(ε-caprolactone)/zein based scarffolds produced via electrospinning

Abstract

Several studies investigated the electrospinnability of poly (ε-caprolactone) blends with polysaccharides and proteins for producing cytocompatible and hydrophilic membranes for tissue engineering purposes. However, there are no reports of electrospun membranes based on poly(ε-caprolactone)/N,N-dimethyl chitosan and poly(ε-caprolactone)/zein blends carried out in a 70/30 formic acid/acetic acid mixture (70/30 vol/vol). By adjusting poly(ε-caprolactone)/N,N-dimethyl chitosan and poly(ε-caprolactone)/zein weight ratios, we developed nanofibers with average diameters ranging from 200 to 500 nm. The poly(ε-caprolactone)-based blends are electrospinnable with until 40 wt% N, N-dimethyl chitosan or 50 wt% zein contents. The infrared spectroscopy and X-ray excited photoelectron spectroscopy characterized the materials. Contact angle measurements point that the insertion of N,N-dimethyl chitosan and zein increased the hydrophilicity of the PCL-based membranes. The contact angle decreases from 118º (pure poly (ε-caprolactone) nanofiber) to 76º (8% poly (ε-caprolactone)/ 30 wt% N,N-dimethyl chitosan content) and 73º ( 8% poly(ε-caprolactone)/40 wt% zein content). Cell adhesion and proliferation studies indicate that the poly(εcaprolactone)/zein nanofibers containing 30 and 40 wt% worked as scaffold materials. The membranes promoted cell adhesion, proliferation, and spreading of adipose-derived human stem cells after 7 days of incubation. The results indicate that the poly(ε-caprolactone)/zein electrospun membranes may be applied as scaffolds in tissue engineering purposes.