Abstract
Electro spun poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) fibers are commonly used for tissue engineering applications because of their uniform morphology, and their efficacy can be further enhanced via surface modification. In this study, we aimed to increase neurite outgrowth along electro spun fibers by coating with silk fibroin (SF), a bioinert protein derived from Bombyx mori cocoon threads, shown to be neuro compatible. Aligned PLLA fibers were electro spun with smooth, pitted, and devoted surface nano topographies and coated with SF by immersion in coating solution for either 12 or 24 h. Specifically, thin-film coatings of SF were generated by leveraging the controlled self-assembly of SF in aqueous conditions that promote β-sheet assembly. For both 12- and 24-h coatings, Congo Red staining for β-sheet structures confirmed the presence of SF coatings on PLLA fibers. Confocal imaging of fluorescein-labeled SF further demonstrated a homogeneous coating formation on PLLA fibers. No change in the water contact angle of the surfaces was observed after coating; however, an increase in the isoelectric point (pI) to values comparable with the theoretical pI of SF was seen. Notably, there was a significant trend of increased dorsal root ganglia (DRG) adhesion on scaffolds coated with SF, as well as greater neurite outgrowth on pitted and devoted fibers that had been coated with SF. Ultimately, this work demonstrated that thin-film SF coatings formed by self-assembly uniformly coat electro spun fibers, providing a new strategy to increase the neuro regenerative capacity of electro spun scaffolds. To our knowledge, this is the first instance of biomedical modification of topologically complex substrates using noncovalent methods.
Recommended Citation
A. M. Ziemba et al., "Coating Topologically Complex Electrospun Fibers with Nanothin Silk Fibroin Enhances Neurite Outgrowth in Vitro," ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 1321 - 1332, American Chemical Society, Mar 2020.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b01487
Department(s)
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
dorsal root ganglia; electrospun fiber; neurite outgrowth; poly- l -lactic acid; silk fibroin
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2373-9878
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 American Chemical Society, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
09 Mar 2020
PubMed ID
33455379
Comments
National Science Foundation, Grant DGE-1247271