Low-temperature electrospun silk scaffold for in vitro mucosal modeling

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Electrospinning is widely used for creating extracellular matrix biomimetic scaffolds.
• A key limitation of conventional electrospun scaffolds is poor cell infiltration, hindering 3D tissue modeling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate low-temperature electrospun silk scaffolds.
• To compare these scaffolds with conventional ones regarding mechanical properties, porosity, cell infiltration, viability, and mucosal model support.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of low-temperature and conventional electrospun silk scaffolds.
• Assessment of scaffold porosity and mechanical properties (uniaxial tensile testing).
• Evaluation of fibroblast infiltration, cell viability (live/dead staining), and keratinocyte differentiation (involucrin immunoreactivity) in 3D culture and mucosal models.

Main Results:

• Low-temperature scaffolds demonstrated enhanced fibroblast infiltration throughout the scaffold volume.
• Porosity was higher in low-temperature scaffolds (93%) compared to conventional (88%).
• While strength was reduced, low-temperature scaffolds supported cell viability, differentiation, and mucosal model formation.

Conclusions:

• Low-temperature electrospun silk scaffolds overcome the cell infiltration limitations of conventional scaffolds.
• These scaffolds show significant potential for diverse tissue engineering applications, from in vitro modeling to in vivo regeneration.