Premium
Combining Catalyst‐Free Click Chemistry with Coaxial Electrospinning to Obtain Long‐Term, Water‐Stable, Bioactive Elastin‐Like Fibers for Tissue Engineering Applications
Author(s) -
FernándezColino Alicia,
Wolf Frederic,
Rütten Stephan,
RodríguezCabello José Carlos,
Jockenhoevel Stefan,
Mela Petra
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201800147
Subject(s) - electrospinning , elastin , tissue engineering , click chemistry , polymer , self healing hydrogels , aqueous solution , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , biomedical engineering , materials science , chemistry , polymer chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , medicine , pathology , engineering
Elastic fibers are a fundamental requirement for tissue‐engineered equivalents of physiologically elastic native tissues. Here, a simple one‐step electrospinning approach is developed, combining i) catalyst‐free click chemistry, ii) coaxial electrospinning, and iii) recombinant elastin‐like polymers as a relevant class of biomaterials. Water‐stable elastin‐like fibers are obtained without the use of cross‐linking agents, catalysts, or harmful organic solvents. The fibers can be directly exposed to an aqueous environment at physiological temperature and their morphology maintained for at least 3 months. The bioactivity of the fibers is demonstrated with human vascular cells and the potential of the process for vascular tissue engineering is shown by fabricating small‐diameter tubular fibrous scaffolds. Moreover, highly porous fluffy 3D constructs are obtained without the use of specially designed collectors or sacrificial materials, further supporting their applicability in the biomedical field. Ultimately, the strategy that is developed here may be applied to other click systems, contributing to expanding their potential in medical technology.