An advanced biohybrid nano-microscaffold for tendon/ligament tissue engineering

Abstract

Fibre-based scaffolds have been widely used in tendon/ligament tissue engineering; however there is still a need for a scaffold that provides suitable mechanical properties along with biological signals required for tendon/ligament regeneration from stem cells. This PhD project developed a novel biodegradable nano-microfibrous polymer scaffold system by electrospinning nanofibers onto a knitted microfibrous scaffold. A silk-based scaffold was developed and optimized to improve the mechanical/degradation properties for ligament/tendon repair. Polymeric nanoscaffolds capable of sustained release of bioactive growth factor bFGF were fabricated using modifications of the electrospinning technique - blend electrospinning and coaxial electrospinning. Biohybrid nano-microscaffolds were fabricated by coating blend electrospun bFGF-releasing nanofibres over the optimised knitted silk scaffolds. The novel scaffold system not only facilitated cell seeding and promoted cell proliferation, but also stimulated BMSC differentiation into a fibroblastic lineage, generating a tendon/ligament analogue that has the potential to be used to repair an injured tendon/ligament.