Perspectives of Chitin and Chitosan Nanofibrous Scaffolds in Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Chitin and its deacetylated derivative, chitosan, are non-toxic, biodegradable biopolymers currently being developed for use in biomedical applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds, wound dressings, separation membranes, antibacterial coatings, stent coatings, and sensors. Recently, nano fibrous scaffolds based on chitin or chitosan have potential applications in tissue engineering. Tissue engineering is one of the most exciting interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research areas today, and there has been exponential growth in the number of research publications in this area in recent years. It involves the use of living cells, manipulated through their extracellular environment or genetically to develop biological substitutes for implantation into the body and/or to foster remodeling of tissues in some active manners. Electrospun chitin and chitosan nano fibrous scaffolds would be used to produce tissue engineering scaffolds with improved cytocompatibility, which could mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM). Electrospinning is truly a feasible means of producing nano fibrous scaffolds that resemble the ECM, however, moreover than this, it is imperative that the effects of an artificial matrix has on cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. This review summarizes the recent progress in chitin and chitosan based nano fibrous scaffolds with an emphasis in tissue engineering applications.

Chitosan: A Natural Biopolymer with a Wide and Varied Range of Applications

“…Tissue engineering involves the use of living cells, which are generally manipulated from their extracellular environment to synthesize tissue that can be implanted into the body [ 68 , 69 ]. Generally, the tissue engineering is employed to repair, maintain, replace or enhance the function of a specific tissue or organ [ 70 ]. Chitosan has been used as polymer scaffold in tissue engineering due to the fact these structures display some properties such as high porosity, biodegradability, structural integrity and non-toxic to cell as well promoting the interaction with the cells to favor its adhesion and it should also encourage cell function [ 71 ].…”

“…• Bone tissue repair and regeneration materials for cartilage repair • Porous 3-D scaffold of chitosan-hydroxyapatite composites for bone regeneration • Chitosan-chondroitin sulfate sponges in bone regeneration • Chitosan-calcium alginate capsules to develop artificial pancreas for diabetes mellitus treatment Tissue engineering involves the use of living cells, which are generally manipulated from their extracellular environment to synthesize tissue that can be implanted into the body [68,69]. Generally, the tissue engineering is employed to repair, maintain, replace or enhance the function of a specific tissue or organ [70]. Chitosan has been used as polymer scaffold in tissue engineering due to the fact these structures display some properties such as high porosity, biodegradability, structural integrity and non-toxic to cell as well promoting the interaction with the cells to favor its adhesion and it should also encourage cell function [71].…”

Preparación y caracterización de membranas poliméricas electrohiladas de policaprolactona y quitosano para la liberación controlada de clorhidrato de tiamina / Preparation and Characterization of Electrospun Polymeric Membranes of Polycaprolactone and Chitosan for Controlled Release of Thiamine Chlorhydrate

“…El TFA es un disolvente adecuado para disolver la PCL y es eficaz para la degradación de este [18,19]. El TFA es un disolvente adecuado para electrohilar quitosano porque los grupos amino del quitosano pueden formar sales con TFA, capaz de destruir eficazmente las interacciones intermoleculares entre las molécu-las de quitosano que facilitan electrohilado [20,21]. El quitosano en su forma cristalina es normalmente insoluble en soluciones acuosas, su solubilización se alcanza debido a grupos amino libres protonables presentes en su estructura molecular, según el siguiente equilibrio (ver ecuación (2)) [22]:…”

“…La banda a 2863 cm −1 corresponde a un estiramiento simétrico del metileno (CH 2 ) y a 2942 cm −1 se encuentra la banda asimétrica de estiramiento del CH 2 . La banda a 1291 cm −1 se asigna a los enlaces C-O y C-C de la fase cristalina de la cadena principal de la PCL [20,30]. Las bandas del CS son débiles debido a su baja concentración en las membranas.…”

Adsorption of Pharmaceutical Contaminants from Aqueous Solutions Using N,O-Carboxymethyl Chitosan/Polyethylene Oxide (PEO) Electrospun Nanofibers

“…Hence, chemical modifications of CS are performed to improve some properties (e.g. solubility, antimicrobial behavior, and ability to interfere with other compounds) [25] [26]. A chemical modification may also be attempted in order to gain more specificity and a sorption versatility toward contaminants, depending on the grafted chemical functionalities on the surface of CS [27].…”