Comparative Performance of Electrospun Collagen Nanofibers Cross-linked by Means of Different Methods

Abstract

Collagen, as the major structural protein of the extracellular matrix in animals, is a versatile biomaterial of great interest in various engineering applications. Electrospun nanofibers of collagen are regarded as very promising materials for tissue engineering applications because they can reproduce the morphology of the natural bone but have as a drawback a poor structural consistency in wet conditions. In this paper, a comparative study between the performance of different cross-linking methods such as a milder enzymatic treatment procedure using transglutaminase, the use of N-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-N'-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride/N-hydroxysuccinimide, and genipin, and the use of a physical method based on exposure to ultraviolet light was carried out. The chemical and enzymatic treatments provided, in this order, excellent consistency, morphology, cross-linking degree, and osteoblast viability for the collagen nanofibers. Interestingly, the enzymatically cross-linked collagen mats, which are considered to be a more biological treatment, promoted adequate cell adhesion, making the biomaterial biocompatible and with an adequate degree of porosity for cell seeding and in-growth.

Eco-friendly Electrospun Polymeric Nanofibers-Based Nanocomposites for Wound Healing and Tissue Engineering

“…Collagen showed promising results and high biocompatibility in several studies. This is attributed to already presence of collagen as the chief constituent of the ECM inside the human body (Matthews et al 2002;Torres-Giner et al 2009). …”

Electrospinning of Functional Nanofibers for Regenerative Medicine: From Bench to Commercial Scale

“…This collagen can also be integrated into a solution of HFP or TFE on its own or as a copolymer and electrospun to form nanofiber scaffolds [88]. In both instances the resulting scaffold must be crosslinked using various chemical [89], enzymatic [90] or photoreactive methods [91] due to the extraction processing of the collagen which renders the material soluble to physiological and acidic conditions. Electrospinning of soluble collagens provides a suitable way of producing scaffolds which closely mimic the high porosity and surface area often seen in small diameter blood vessels, and has the potential as a good tissue engineering scaffold for the production of three dimensional cell cultures, leading to potential applications such as skin grafts.…”

Biomimetic Collagen Nanofibrous Materials for Bone Tissue Engineering

“…However, electrospun collagen nanofibres still face many problems, such as insufficient resistance in water and collagenase environments, poor mechanical strength to bear loadings and poor thermal stability. [134] Covalent cross-linking is a good choice for increasing the dimensional, mechanical and biological stability of collagen biomaterials. [135] Researchers have developed a variety of cross-linking methods, including chemical agents, physical heating and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation to enhance the mechanical strength, thermal stability and collagenase resistibility of collagen scaffolds, thus increasing its overall biocompatibility.…”

“…However, UV treatment may alter the polymer molecular weight and chemistry and cannot ensure sufficient strength of the matrices; this method has not been widely used in biomimetic material treatment. [134] Glutaraldehyde (GTA) is the most common cross-linking agent in clinical use for fixing collagenous tissues. As a widely used chemical cross-linker, GTA has been reported to introduce a high degree of cross-linking and water-resistance in the electrospun collagen-based fibres.…”