Investigation of poly(vinyl) alcohol-gellan gum based nanofiber as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

The objective of the present work was to fabricate poly(vinyl alcohol)-gellan gum nanofiber (PG-NFs) based scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. PG-NFs were fabricated via electrospinning and were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Physical properties including water solubility, swelling behavior, contact angle, apparent porosity, biodegradation, and conductivity studies were performed. SEM micrographs displayed long, uniform and randomly oriented PG-NFs of average diameter of 158 ± 23 nm with an interconnected three-dimensional network structure and FTIR study showed gellan gum interaction with PVA through hydrogen bonding. The degradation assay confirmed that as fabricated PG-NFs were stable in the aqueous medium without any significant weight loss. The apparent porosity of PG-NFs was 40%, and conductance was 126.93 pS. The PG-NFs was also proven to be non-toxic and biocompatible by supporting the growth of murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs), similar as control, upon culturing on the same. In summary, stability of PG-NFs in the aqueous medium and significant growth of ESCs in vitro on such 3D nanofibrous scaffolds make it a promising material for various tissue engineering applications

Fabrication of biocompatible alginate-poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

The present study signifies promising potential of alginate-poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofiber (ALPA- nf) in the field of tissue engineering. ALPA-nfs were fabricated by electrospinning using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blended with alginate in surfactant holding aqueous medium. Strong interaction between alginate and PVA resulted into improved physical properties, improving the stability of ALPA-nfs in the aqueous medium without any significant weight loss. The solubility and swelling percentage of ALPA nanofiber mat were found to be 32.23 +/- 0.95 and 295 +/- 4.2 respectively after 24 h. Visualization of microstructure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the formation of random and smooth fibers. The consecutive interaction of alginate with PVA via hydrogen bonding was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Further, the biocompatibility study of ALPA-nfs revealed its non-cytotoxic impact on pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in-vitro, facilitating their growth comparable to that seen under native condition, and hence its suitability as potent biomaterial scaffold