Fabrication of glycidyl methacrylate-modified silk fibroin/poly(L-lactic acid-co-ε-caprolactone)–polyethylene glycol diacrylate hybrid 3D nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering

Abstract

In order to provide a biomimetic natural extracellular matrix microenvironment with excellent mechanical capacity for tissue regeneration, a novel porous hybrid glycidyl methacrylate-modified silk fibroin/poly(L-lactic acid-co-ε-caprolactone)–polyethylene glycol diacrylate (SFMA/P(LLA-CL)–PEGDA) hybrid three-dimensional (3D) nanofibrous scaffolds was successfully fabricated through the combination of 3D nanofibrous platforms and divinyl PEGDA based photocrosslinking, and then further improved water resistance by ethanol vapor post-treatment. Scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography results demonstrated significant PEGDA hydrogel-like matrices bonded nanofibers, which formed a 3D structure similar to that of “steel bar (nanofibers)‒cement (PEGDA)”, with proper pore size, high porosity, and high pore connectivity density. Meanwhile, the hybrid 3D nanofibrous scaffolds showed outstanding swelling properties as well as improved compressive and tensile properties. Furthermore, these hybrid 3D nanofibrous scaffolds could provide a biocompatible microenvironment, capable of inducing the material‒cell hybrid and regulating human umbilical vein endothelial cells proliferation. They thus present significant potential in tissue regeneration.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

hybrid 3D nanofibrous scaffold / silk fibroin / tissue engineering / human umbilical vein endothelial cell

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Disclosure of potential conflicts of interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

This work was sponsored by the Jiaxing Public Welfare Research Project (Grant Nos. 2021AY10062 and 2021AY10063), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. LY20C100003 and LY22C100001), and the National Undergraduate Training Program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Grant No. 202010354009).

Electronic supplementary information

Supplementary materials can be found in the online version at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-023-0647-7, which include Figs. S1‒S2.

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