Potentials of sandwich-like chitosan/polycaprolactone/gelatin scaffolds for guided tissue regeneration membrane

Periodontal disease is a common complication and conventional periodontal surgery can lead to severe bleeding. Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) membranes favor periodontal regrowth, but they still have limitations, such as improper biodegradation, poor mechanical property, and no effective hemostatic property. To overcome these shortcomings, we generated unique multifunctional scaffolds. A chitosan/polycaprolactone/gelatin sandwich-like construction was fabricated by electrospinning and lyophilization. These composite scaffolds showed favorable physicochemical properties, including: appropriate porosity (<50%), pore size (about 10 μm) and mechanical stability (increasing with more PCL), good swelling and hydrophilicity. Appropriate degradation rates were approved by degradability analysis in vitro and in vivo, which resembled tissue regeneration process more closely. As shown in cell viability assay, cell attachment assay and Sirius red staining, we knew that the scaffolds had good biocompatibility, did not adversely affect cell ability for attachment, and induced high levels of collagen secretion. Experiments of blood clotting measurement in vitro showed that composite scaffolds were capable of accelerating blood clotting and could realize effective hemostasis. The results from subcutaneous implantation revealed the scaffolds had strong cell barrier effects and protection from external cell invasion. In summary, our multifunctional composite scaffolds showed optimised structure, enhanced regenerative capabilities, and serve as a basis for approaches to improve GTR designs for periodontal regeneration.