The success of tissue engineered vascular grafts depends greatly on the synthetic tubular scaffold, which can mimic the architecture, mechanical, and anticoagulation properties of native blood vessels. In this study, small-diameter tubular scaffolds were fabricated with different weight ratios of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(l-lactide-co-ɛ-caprolactone) (PLCL) by means of thermally induced phase separation technique. To improve the anticoagulation property of materials, heparin was covalently linked to the tubular scaffolds by N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and N-hydroxysuccinimide coupling chemistry. The as-prepared PLLA/PLCL scaffolds retained microporous nanofibrous structure as observed in the neat PLLA scaffolds, and their structural and mechanical properties can be fine-tuned by changing the ratio of two components. The scaffold containing 60% PLCL content was found to be the most promising scaffold for engineering small-diameter blood vessel in terms of elastic properties and structural integrity. The heparinized scaffolds showed higher hydrophilicity, lower protein adsorption ability, and better in vitro anticoagulation property than their untreated counterparts. Pig iliac endothelial cells seeded on the heparinized scaffold showed good cellular attachment, spreading, proliferation, and phenotypic maintenance. Furthermore, the heparinized scaffolds exhibited neovascularization after subcutaneous implantation into the New Zealand white rabbits for 1 and 2 months. Taken together, the heparinized PLLA/PLCL nanofibrous scaffolds have the great potential for vascular tissue engineering application. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 1784–1797, 2015.

The radiation crosslinked poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) electrospun nanofibers have been developed with improved thermal stability and mechanical properties. Trially isocyanurate (TAIC) were added into PLLA solution at different weight ratios (1, 3, and 5%) and electrospun into nanofibrous mats, the mats were then irradiated by gamma ray at different radiation doses (5, 10, and 25 kGy) to crosslink the PLLA chains. Their surface morphology, thermal properties, mechanical properties, and biodegradation properties were investigated and compared before and after gamma irradiation. Furthermore, the in vitro biocompatibilities were also evaluated by using mouse L929 fibroblasts. The results indicated that the efficient crosslinking networks can be generated when the TAIC content is higher than 3%. The thermal stability and tensile mechanical properties were significantly increased at higher irradiation dose of 10 and 25 kGy. However, radiation dose at 25 kGy have an adverse effect on the thermal stability of crosslinked samples due to thermal degradation induced by irradiation, the crosslinked samples irradiated at 10 kGy exhibited the best enzymatic degradation. The in vitro results also revealed that the crosslinked PLLA/TAIC composite nanofibers did not induce cytotoxic effects and are suitable for cell growth. Therefore, the crosslinked PLLA nanofibers are one of the promising materials for future tissue engineering applications. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2011.

Coelectrospinning of native proteins and elastic synthetic polymers is an attractive technique to fabricate hybrid fibrous scaffolds that combine the bioactivity and mechanical features of each material component. In this study, hybrid fibrous scaffolds composed of synthetic P(LLA-CL) elastomeric and naturally derived fibrinogen protein were fabricated and characterized for their bioactive and physiochemical properties. Fiber diameters of hybrid scaffolds increased with increasing P(LLA-CL) content, and the shape of fibers changed from cylindrical shape on pure polymer scaffolds to flat structure on hybrid scaffolds. Characterizations of ATR-FTIR, XRD, and thermal properties indicated that the hybrid scaffolds contain two different phases, one composed of pure fibrinogen and the other corresponding to a mixture of fibrinogen and P(LLA-CL), and no obvious chemical reaction takes place between two components. The hybrid fibrous scaffolds showed tailorable degradation rates than pure P(LLA-CL) and higher mechanical properties than pure fibrinogen, and both tensile strength and breaking strain increased with increasing P(LLA-CL) content. In Vitro studies revealed that L929 cells on hybrid scaffolds achieved relatively higher level of cell attachment after 12 h of culture and significant increased cell proliferation rate after 7 days of culture, when compared with pure fibrinogen and P(LLA-CL) scaffolds, and the cells exhibited a spreading polygonal shape on the hybrid fibrous surfaces compared to a round shape on surfaces of pure polymer scaffolds. Therefore, the fibrinogen/P(LLA-CL) hybrid fibrous scaffolds possess the combined benefits of each individual component, which make it capable as scaffolds for soft tissue reconstruction. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2011.

Poly(L-lactide acid)-blend-gelatin (PLLA-gelatin) nanofibers were successfully fabricated by means of electrospinning. The different material components characterizing the properties of electrospun PLLA/G nanofibers were measured and the effect of PLLA weight ratios on such properties as morphologies, physical and chemical structure and mechanical profiles were analyzed. It was found that the fibers diameter increases and the ultimate tension-stress enhances with increased PLLA weight ratio. The analysis of X-ray diffractometry, differential scanning calorimetry, and Fourier-transform infrared spectra demonstrated that the resultant nanofibers from electrospinning of PLLA-gelatin solution are simple blends of these two components. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010

In this work, drug-loaded fibers and threads were successfully fabricated by combining electrospinning with aligned fibers collection. Two different electrospinning processes, that is, blend and coaxial electrospinning, to incorporate a model drug tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) into poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) fibers have been used and compared with each other. The resulting composite ultrafine fibers and threads were characterized through scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile testing. It has been shown that average diameters of the fibers made from the same polymer concentration depended on the processing method. The blend TCH/PLLA fibers showed the smallest fiber diameter, whereas neat PLLA fibers and core-shell TCH-PLLA fibers showed a larger proximal average diameter. Higher rotating speed of a wheel collector is helpful for obtaining better-aligned fibers. Both the polymer and the drug in the electrospun fibers have poor crystalline property. In vitro release study indicated that threads made from the core-shell fibers could suppress the initial burst release and provide a sustained drug release useful for the release of growth factor or other therapeutic drugs. On the other hand, the threads from the blend fibers produced a large initial burst release that may be used to prevent bacteria infection. A combination of these results suggests that electrospinning technique provides a novel way to fabricate medical agents-loaded fibrous threads for tissue suturing and tissue regeneration applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2009