Electrospinning of nanofibrous polycaprolactone (PCL) and collagen-blended polycaprolactone for wound dressing and tissue engineering

Fabrication of nanofibrous biomaterials based on natural materials through various techniques is a popular research topic, particularly for biomedical applications. Electrospinning, a well-established technique for nanofiber production has also been extended for producing nanofibrous structures of natural materials that mimic natural extracellular matrix of mammalian tissues. Collagen nanofiber production utilizes hexafluoro propanol (HFP) as a solvent for electrospinning. A novel cost-effective electrospun nanofibrous membrane is established for wound dressing and allogeneic cultured epidermal substitute through the cultivation of human dermal keratinocytes for skin defects. Several synthetic polymers such as polycaprolactone (PCL) are generally electrospun for tissue engineering applications because of their remarkable mechanical stability and slow degradation rates. The large surface area of the polymer nanofibers with specific modifications facilitates cell adhesion and control of their cellular functions. The objectives of this study were to optimize fabrication parameters of electrospun nanofibrous membranes from biodegradable PCL and collagen-blended nanofibrous membranes to combine mechanical integrity and spinnability of PCL with high biocompatibility of collagen, and to examine keratinocyte attachment, morphology, proliferation, and cell-matrix interactions. Results prove that the porous nanofibrous PCL and modified PCL-blended collagen nanofibrous membranes are suitable for the attachment and proliferation of keratinocytes, and might have the potential to be applied as wound dressing as well as in tissue engineering as an epidermal substitute for the treatment of skin defects and burn wounds.