Engineering Biomimetic Gelatin Based Nanostructures as Synthetic Substrates for Cell Culture

Abstract

There is a need for synthetic substrates that replicate the natural environment for in vitro intestinal models. Electrospinning is one of the most versatile and cost-effective techniques to produce nanofibrous scaffolds mimicking the basement membrane topography. In this study, three different novel electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds made of a polycaprolactone (PCL), gelatin, and poloxamer 188 (P188) blend were produced and compared with PCL and PCL/gelatin fibers produced using the same solvent system and electrospinning parameters. Each polymer solution used in this experiment was electrospun at four different voltages to study its influence on fiber diameter. The morphology and physical characteristics of the fibers were studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The average fiber diameter of all scaffolds was within 200–600 nm and no significant decrease in diameter with an increase in voltage was observed. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to determine the chemical characteristics of the nanofibrous scaffold. The conductivity of the polymer solutions was also analyzed. Biocompatibility of the scaffolds was determined by a cell proliferation study performed using colorectal carcinoma (Caco-2) cells. PCL/gelatin/P188 scaffolds exhibited higher cell proliferation compared to PCL, PCL/gelatin scaffolds, and the control (tissue culture multi-well plate) with PCL/gelatin/P188 80:10:10 sample showing the highest cell proliferation.

Polycaprolactone/gelatin electrospun nanofibres containing biologically produced tellurium nanoparticles as a potential wound dressing scaffold: Physicochemical, mechanical, and biological characterisation

“…The functional groups of PCL, GEL, and Te NPs were used for characterisation of the composition of produced scaffolds (Figure 3a). The bands of 2937, 2863 (–CH 2 asymmetric stretching), 1724 (carbonyl stretching), and 1242 cm −1 (stretches of C–O and C–C) were observed in PCL nanofibres, which were similar to the results of previous investigations [14]. All of these bands also were observed in PCL/GEL nanofibres along with bands of 3424 (N–H stretching), 1637 (C=O stretching), and 1449 cm −1 (amide type II) [15].…”

Fabrication of Gehlenite Nanopowder Containing Electrospun Nanofibers for Bone Tissue Engineering

“…The characteristic groups of PCL, COL, and GLN NPs were determined for investigation of scaffolds composition. The clear bands of 2937 cm -1 (-CH 2 asymmetric stretching), 1724 cm -1 (carbonyl stretching), 1242 cm -1 (stretches of C-O and C-C) were observed in PCL scaffolds which were similar to the results of previous investigations [20,21]. The bands of 3424 cm -1 (N-H stretching), 1637 cm -1 (C=O stretching) and 1449 cm -1 (amide type II) were observed in both COL scaffolds and PCL/COL scaffolds which demonstrated well presence of collagen in PCL/COL scaffolds.…”

In Situ Self-Assembling Liver Spheroids with Synthetic Nanoscaffolds for Preclinical Drug Screening Applications

“…38 Several studies have shown that PCLbased scaffolds improve cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation compared with scaffold-free spheroids. 39 In our work, continuously electrospun PCL nanofibers were successfully generated with average diameters of 633.73 ± 126.02 nm (Figure 1A) and a porosity of 61.6 ± 3.5%, which is considered to be suitable for the scaffold of cells (60−70%). 40 Nanofibre porosity influences its wettability, with higher porosity resulting in increased wettability, which in turn influences the ability of cells to adhere and proliferate on its surface.…”