| AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces | Monday Sessions |
| Session BI-MoA |
| Session: | Protein and Cell Interactions at Interfaces I |
| Presenter: | N. Zander, Army Research Lab/University of Delaware |
| Authors: | N. Zander, Army Research Lab/University of Delaware J. Orlicki, Army Research Lab A. Rawlett, Army Research Lab T. Beebe, University of Delaware |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Spinal cord injuries are one of the most catastrophic and costly types of injuries since damaged axons in the central nervous system are unable to spontaneously regenerate. Although reconstruction of damaged and diseased neural pathways remains a major hurdle, recent research has shown that aligned electrospun fiber mats can provide contact guidance cues to direct axon growth by acting as a bridging device. However, due to the nanometer sized fiber diameter and highly aligned nature of the scaffolds, the low interfiber distance limits penetration of the cells into the scaffold.
To study the effect of fiber mat porosity on cellular infiltration, aligned fiber mats were fabricated via co-electrospinning polycaprolactone with polyethylene oxide (a water soluble polymer). Variation of the fabrication parameters allowed for control of the porosity of the scaffold with a full range of sacrificial (PEO) fiber composition. As the surface composition is also critical in providing biochemical signals to direct neurite growth, the surfaces of the fibers were functionalized via air plasma treatment followed by attachment of several extracellular matrix proteins. The surface chemistry was characterized by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, and Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Cellular infiltration, proliferation and neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells were evaluated for fiber mats of varying porosity and surface composition.