Study on periodontal tissue regeneration induced by MXene-loaded electrospun oriented PCL fiber membranes

Guided tissue regeneration membrane (GTRM) with improved function is the ultimate objective to repair periodontal tissue damage. In the study, a tri-layer fiber membrane with surface-oriented fibers was prepared by electrospinning technology, followed by MXene coating via the impregnation method. Mechanical tests show that the tri-layer composite with a higher strength of 4.06 ± 0.25 MPa, which can meet the requirements of GTRM. MXene reduced the contact angle of the material by 82.05 °, and increased the surface potential to -54.0 ± 0.9 mV. When co-cultured with Dental Follicle Stem Cells (DFSCs), the oriented PCL fiber scaffold with coating MXene (MXene@APCL) membrane has excellent cell barrier performance due to an orthogonal pattern fiber on both out-surfaces. SEM and fluorescence microscopic observations showed that DFSCs presented directional extension on the oriented fibers. ALP activity, qPCR and calcium nodule analysis indicated that the MXene@APCL membrane shows its promoted osteogenic differentiation of DFSCs, which may be attributed to the MXene coating functional group and biomimetic charge potential. MXene@APCL fiber membranes, which combine excellent mechanical properties, cell shielding and osteogenic differentiation ability would be a promising candidate for GTRM.