Skeletal muscle regeneration via engineered tissue culture over electrospun nanofibrous chitosan/PVA scaffold

Skeletal muscle tissue shows a remarkable potential in regeneration of injured tissue. However, in some of chronic and volumetric muscle damages, the native tissue is incapable to repair and remodeling the trauma. In the same condition, stem-cell therapy increased regeneration in situations of deficient muscle repair, but the major problem seems to be the lack of ability to attachment and survive of injected cells on the exact location. In this study, chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibrous scaffold was studied to promote cell attachment and provide mechanical support during regeneration. Scaffold was characterized using scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and tensile test. Degradation and swelling behavior of scaffold were studied for 20 days. The cell-scaffold interaction was characterized by MTT assay for 10 days and in vivo biocompatibility of scaffold in a rabbit model was evaluated. Results showed that cells had a good viability, adhesion, growth, and spread on the scaffold, which make this mat a desirable engineered muscular graft. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 1720-1727, 2016.