Tunable cellular interactions and physical properties of nanofibrous PCL-forsterite:gelatin scaffold through sequential electrospinning

Nanofibrous scaffolds made of synthetic polymers have been widely studied for bone engineering applications due to good mechanical properties. However, hydrophobic nature of synthetic polymers and the small pore sizes of the fibrous scaffolds inhibit cellular attachment, infiltration and tissue ingrowth. In this study, multilayered scaffolds composed of poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL)-10%(w/v) forsterite(Mg2SiO4) (PCL-F) and gelatin fibrous layers with two volume ratios ((2:1) and (1:2)) were developed via sequential electrospinning. The physical and chemical properties of the fibrous scaffolds were studied and the effects of scaffold compositions on the behavior of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) were also investigated. Results demonstrated the scaffolds with time-dependent properties could be obtained due to different degradation rates of PCL-F and gelatin layers. Notably, the addition of gelatin layer dramatically improved the hydrophilicity of PCL-F scaffold, while did not significantly change its stiffness and strength. Moreover, compared to pure gelatin scaffold, the attachment and proliferation of SHED cultured on the multilayered fibrous scaffolds were not significantly different. By increasing the culture time, the pore sizes of the multilayered scaffolds increased which resulted in improved cellular infiltration compared to individual gelatin and PCL-F fibrous scaffolds. Based on the obtained results, PCL-forsterite:gelatin scaffolds are believed to have a great potential for the three-dimensional organization of cells and development of new bone tissue.