Casein release and characterization of electrospun nanofibres for cartilage tissue engineering

Abstract

Cartilage regeneration/reconstruct is a noticeable challenge in cartilage tissue engineering. In this study, through electrospinning technique, poly(caprolactone) (PCL), gelatin (Gel) and casein (Cas) were used to fabricate electrospun scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering applications. The physicochemical properties of fabricated scaffolds were assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water contact angle (WCA), mechanical assessment, water uptake measurement and in-vitro degradation assay. The cell/scaffold interactions were assessed through MTT assay and SEM observation. The obtained results showed the uniform and bead-free PCL/Gel/Cas fibres produced with a mean diameter of about 259.27 +/- 56.33 nm, and 15.98 +/- 2.14 mu m pore size. The tensile assessment revealed that PCL/Gel fibres with 2 wt Cas reached 9.8 +/- 1.6 MPa. The MTT assay also showed that PCL/Gel fibres with 2 wt Cas had proper cell viability and proliferation comparable with PCL/Gel scaffold. It can be concluded that the PCL/Gel/Cas nanofibrous scaffold can be a desirable candidate for cartilage tissue engineering.