To imitate the composition of natural bone and further improve the biological property of the materials, ZnO/hydroxyapatite/chitosan-polyethylene oxide@gelatin (ZnO/HAP/CS-PEO@GEL) composite scaffolds were developed. The core-shell structured chitosan-polyethylene oxide@gelatin (CS-PEO@GEL) nanofibers which could form the intramolecular hydrogen bond and achieve an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) polymer were first prepared by coaxial electrospinning to mimic the extracellular matrix. To further enhance biological activity, hydroxyapatite (HAP) was grown on the surface of the CS-PEO@GEL nanofibers using chemical deposition and ZnO particles were then evenly distributed on the surface of the above composite materials using RF magnetron sputtering. The SEM results showed that chemical deposition and magnetron sputtering did not destroy the three-dimensional architecture of materials, which was beneficial to cell growth. The cell compatibility and proliferation of MG-63 cells on ZnO/HAP/CS-PEO@GEL composite scaffolds were superior to those on CS-PEO@GEL and HAP/CS-PEO@GEL composite scaffolds. An appropriate amount of ZnO sputtering could promote the adhesion of cells on the composite nanofibers. The structure of bone tissue could be better simulated both in composition and in the microenvironment, which provided a suitable environment for cell growth and promoted the proliferation of MG-63 cells. The biomimetic ZnO/HAP/CS-PEO@GEL composite scaffolds were promising materials for bone tissue engineering.
The demand for artificial vascular grafts in clinical applications is increasing, and it is urgent to design a tissue-engineered vascular graft with good biocompatibility and sufficient mechanical strength. In this study, three-layer small diameter artificial vascular grafts were constructed by electrospinning. Polycaprolactone (PCL) and collagen (COL) were used as the inner layer to provide good biocompatibility and cell adhesion, the middle layer was PCL to improve the mechanical properties, and gelatin (GEL) and PCL were used to construct the outer layer for further improving the mechanical properties and biocompatibility of the vascular grafts in the human body environment. The electrospun artificial vascular graft had good biocompatibility and mechanical properties. Its longitudinal maximum stress reached 2.63±0.12MPa, which exceeded the maximum stress that many natural blood vessels could withstand. The fibre diameter of the vascular grafts was related to the proportion of components that made up the vascular grafts. In the inner structure of the vascular grafts, the hydrophilicity of the vascular grafts was enhanced by the addition of COL to the PCL, and Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) adhered more easily to the vascular grafts. In particular, the cytocompatibility and proliferation of HUVECs on the scaffold with an inner structure PCL:COL = 2:1 was superior to other ratios of vascular grafts. The vascular grafts didn’t cause hemolysis of red blood cells. Thus, the bionic PCL-COL@PCL@PCL-GEL composite graft is a promising material for vascular tissue engineering.
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