Electrospun poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) scaffolds for skin tissue engineering

Electrospun fiber matrices composed of scaffolds of varying fiber diameters were investigated for potential application of severe skin loss. Few systematic studies have been performed to examine the effect of varying fiber diameter electrospun fiber matrices for skin regeneration. The present study reports the fabrication of poly[lactic acid-co-glycolic acid] (PLAGA) matrices with fiber diameters of 150-225, 200-300, 250-467, 500-900, 600-1,200, 2,500-3,000 and 3,250-6,000 nm via electrospinning. All fiber matrices found to have a tensile modulus from 39.23+/-8.15 to 79.21+/-13.71 MPa which falls in the range for normal human skin. Further, the porous fiber matrices have porosity between 38 to 60% and average pore diameters between 10 to 14 microm. We evaluated the efficacy of these biodegradable fiber matrices as skin substitutes by seeding them with human skin fibroblasts (hSF). Human skin fibroblasts acquired a well spread morphology and showed significant progressive growth on fiber matrices in the 350-1,100 nm diameter range. Collagen type III gene expression was significantly up-regulated in hSF seeded on matrices with fiber diameters in the range of 350-1,100 nm. Based on the need, the proposed fiber skin substitutes can be successfully fabricated and optimized for skin fibroblast attachment and growth.