A nanocomposite electrospun scaffold enhanced cell adhesion in wound healing

Author(s):
Cheng Zhao; Jianan Ren

Background:

For open abdomen, many patches and scaffolds have been used. The electrospun attracts people’s attention for mimicking the extracellular matrix which is suitable for cell adhesion and proliferation. The scaffold has been used for wound protection, corneal cells adhesion and cardiomyocytes proliferation. In wound healing, gold nanoparticles showed great potential in promoting fibroblast regeneration, protecting vascular endothelial cells and anti-infection. We used the microsphere to control the release of gold nanoparticles.

In this work, we sought to directly test cell adhesive ability of the scaffold and its therapeutic effect in healing the wound.

Hypothesis:

We hypothesized that nanocomposite scaffold could enhance the cell adhesion and promote healing.

Methods:

We produced the scaffold by electrospinning and characterized it. We tested the contact angle，controlled release ability and cell adhesion in vitro. Open abdomen model was set to analyze the therapeutic effect.

Results:

Scaffolds with different shapes of porous microsphere were produced and analyzed. It showed controlled release ability in vitro. After loading the AuNPs, the hydrophobic surface was changed. We cocultured the scaffold with fibroblast for 3 days. Enhanced cell adhesion was oberved. In vivo study confirmed the idea that the scaffold could accelerate the healing. Reduced inflammation and increased neovascularization were observed. The granulation in highest AuNPs concentration scaffold group was thicker than the others.

Conclusions:

The scaffold showed great ability in enhancing cell adhesion. It may owing to the effect of AuNPs. Different sizes of AuNPs have different effect. More work need to be done.