Investigation of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Cultured on PLGA orPLGA/Chitosan Electrospun Nanofibers

摘要

We compared the viability, proliferation, and differentiation of human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC)after culture on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and PLGA/chitosan (PLGA/CH) hybrid scaffolds. We appliedconventional and emulsion electrospinning techniques, respectively, for the fabrication of the PLGA and PLGA/CH scaffolds. Electrospinning under optimum conditions resulted in an average fiber diameter of 166 ± 33 nmfor the PLGA/CH and 680 ± 175 nm for the PLGA scaffold. The difference between the tensile strength of thePLGA and PLGA/CH nanofibers was not significant, but PLGA/CH showed a significantly lower tensile modulusand elongation at break. However, it should be noted that the extensibility of the PLGA/CH was higher than thatof the nanofibrous scaffolds of pure chitosan. As expected, a higher degree of hydrophilicity was seen with PLGA/CH, as compared to PLGA alone. The biocompatibility of the PLGA and PLGA/CH scaffolds was compared usingMTS assay as well as analysis by scanning electron microscopy and confocal microscopy. The results showed thatboth scaffold types supported the viability and proliferation of human MSC, with significantly higher rates on PLGA/CH nanofibers. Nonetheless, an analysis of gene expression of MSC grown on either PLGA or PLGA/CH showed asimilar differentiation pattern towards bone, nerve and adipose tissues.