Characterization of the surface biocompatibility of the electrospun PCL-collagen nanofibers using fibroblasts

The effect of nanofiber surface coatings on the cell's proliferation behavior was studied. Individually collagen-coated poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers (i.e., Collagen-r-PCL in the form of a core-shell structure) were prepared by a coaxial electrospinning technique. A roughly collagen-coated PCL nanofibrous matrix was also prepared by soaking the PCL matrix in a 10 mg/mL collagen solution overnight. These two types of coated nanofibers were then used to investigate differences in biological responses in terms of proliferation and cell morphology of human dermal fibroblasts (HDF). It was found that coatings of collagen on PCL nanofibrous matrix definitely favored cells proliferation, and the efficiency is coating means dependent. As compared to PCL, the HDF density on the Collagen-r-PCL nanofiber membrane almost increased linearly by 19.5% (2 days), 22.9% (4 days), and 31.8% (6 days). In contrast, the roughly collagen-coated PCL increased only by 5.5% (2 days), 11.0% (4 days), and 21.0% (6 days). SEM observation indicated that the Collagen-r-PCL nanofibers encouraged cell migration inside the scaffolds. These findings suggest that the Collagen-r-PCL nanofibers can be used as novel functional biomimetic nanofibers toward achieving excellent integration between cells and scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.