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Photochemical crosslinked electrospun collagen nanofibers: Synthesis, characterization and neural stem cell interactions
Author(s) -
Liu Ting,
Teng Wai Keng,
Chan Barbara P.,
Chew Sing Yian
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.32831
Subject(s) - nanofiber , materials science , acetic acid , electrospinning , tissue engineering , rose bengal , biophysics , biomedical engineering , nanotechnology , polymer , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , medicine , biology
Currently available crosslinking methods for electrospun collagen nanofibers do not preserve the fibrous architecture over prolonged periods of time. In addition, electrospinning of collagen often involves solvents that lead to extensive protein denaturation. In this study, we demonstrate the advantage of acetic acid over 1,1,1,3,3,3 hexafluoroisopropanol (HFP) in preventing collagen denaturation. A novel photochemical crosslinking method using rose bengal as the photoinitiator is also introduced. Using circular dichorism analyses, we demonstrate the fraction of collagen helical structure to be significantly greater in acetic acid‐spun fibers than HFP‐spun fibers (28.9 ± 5.9% vs. 12.5 ± 2.0%, p < 0.05). By introducing 0.1% (w/v) rose bengal into collagen fibers and subjecting these scaffolds to laser irradiation at a wavelength of 514 nm for 100 sec, biodegradable crosslinked scaffolds were obtained. Scaffold degradation as evaluated by soaking crosslinked collagen scaffolds in PBS at 37°C, indicated a mass loss of 47.7 ± 7.4% and 68.9 ± 24.7% at day 7 and day 15, respectively. However, these scaffolds retained fibrous architecture for at least 21 days under physiological conditions. Neural stem cell line, C17.2, cultured on crosslinked collagen scaffolds proliferated after 7 days by forming a confluent layer of cells with extensive cellular projections that were indicative of neurite outgrowth. Taken together, these findings support the potential of acetic acid‐electrospun photochemical crosslinked collagen nanofibers for neural tissue engineering. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2010.