Incorporation and selective removal of space-forming nanofibers to enhance the permeability of cytocompatible nanofiber membranes for better cell growth

Enhancement of antibacterial activity in electrospun fibrous membranes based on quaternized chitosan with caffeic acid and berberine chloride for wound dressing applications

Electrospun nanofibers made from chitosan are promising materials for surgical wound dressings due to their non-toxicity and biocompatibility. However, the antibacterial activity of chitosan is limited by its poor water solubility under physiological conditions. This study addresses this issue by producing electrospun nanofibers mainly from natural compounds, including chitosan and quaternized chitosan, which enhance both its solubility for electrospinning and the antibacterial activity of the resulting electrospun nanofibers. Additionally, antimicrobial agents like caffeic acid or berberine chloride were incorporated. The glutaraldehyde-treated nanofibers showed improved mechanical properties, with an average tensile strength exceeding 2.7 MPa, comparable to other chitosan-based wound dressings. They also demonstrated enhanced water stability, retaining over 50% of their original weight after one week in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at 37 °C. The morphology and performance of these nanofibers were thoroughly examined and discussed. Furthermore, these membranes displayed rapid drug release, indicating potential for inhibiting bacterial growth. Antibacterial assays revealed that S2-CX nanofibers containing caffeic acid were most effective against E. coli and S. aureus, reducing their survival rates to nearly 0%. Similarly, berberine chloride-containing S4-BX nanofibers reduced the survival rates of E. coli and S. aureus to 19.82% and 0%, respectively. These findings suggest that electrospun membranes incorporating chitosan and caffeic acid hold significant potential for use in antibacterial wound dressings and drug delivery applications.

Electrospun poly (ε-caprolactone)/beeswax based super-hydrophobic anti-adhesive nanofibers as physical barriers for impeding fibroblasts invasion

Super-hydrophobic electrospun membranes are very essential barrier materials to physically isolate the wound site in order to prevent adhesions and for restoring the normal functioning of the surrounding tissues and organs. In the present study, poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/beeswax (BW) based nanofibrous anti-adhesion membranes were fabricated by electrospinning technique. The BW concentration was varied from 10 to 30 wt.%. The nanofibers were evaluated for their morphological and physio-chemical properties. The electrospun mats demonstrate random distribution of nanofibers. Surface wettability was evaluated using static water contact angle method. PCL/BW (70/30) membrane had shown super-hydrophobicity (contact angle = 150°). From the cell culture studies, it was evident that cell viability, adhesion and proliferation of L929 cells on PCL/BW (70/30) membrane were comparatively lower than those on pure PCL membrane due to its super-hydrophobic nature. Consequently, PCL/BW (70/30) membrane was found as a potential candidate for fibroblast (L929) cell anti-adhesion applications.

The Overview of Porous, Bioactive Scaffolds as Instructive Biomaterials for Tissue Regeneration and Their Clinical Translation

Porous scaffolds have been employed for decades in the biomedical field where researchers have been seeking to produce an environment which could approach one of the extracellular matrixes supporting cells in natural tissues. Such three-dimensional systems offer many degrees of freedom to modulate cell activity, ranging from the chemistry of the structure and the architectural properties such as the porosity, the pore, and interconnection size. All these features can be exploited synergistically to tailor the cell-material interactions, and further, the tissue growth within the voids of the scaffold. Herein, an overview of the materials employed to generate porous scaffolds as well as the various techniques that are used to process them is supplied. Furthermore, scaffold parameters which modulate cell behavior are identified under distinct aspects: the architecture of inert scaffolds (i.e., pore and interconnection size, porosity, mechanical properties, etc.) alone on cell functions followed by comparison with bioactive scaffolds to grasp the most relevant features driving tissue regeneration. Finally, in vivo outcomes are highlighted comparing the accordance between in vitro and in vivo results in order to tackle the future translational challenges in tissue repair and regeneration.