Electrospun 3D Nanofiber Scaffolds with Adhesion-Enhanced Interfaces for Cell Culture.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Creating 3D fibrous scaffolds is challenging due to control and stability issues.
• Polystyrene (PS) forms 3D structures but is hydrophobic and bioinert, limiting cell interactions.
• Existing methods struggle to create suitable scaffolds for cell-interactive platforms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop bioactive 3D scaffolds from polystyrene (PS) with enhanced cell interactivity.
• To overcome the limitations of hydrophobic and bioinert synthetic polymers.
• To create a platform for regenerative medicine applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a gravity-defying electrospinning strategy for scaffold fabrication.
• Employed tannic acid (TA) as a physical cross-linker.
• Applied silk sericin (SS) as a hydrophilic coating for surface functionalization.

Main Results:

• Engineered PS scaffolds (PS^3D/TA/SS) exhibited a mesoporous structure with high surface area and interconnected porosity.
• The TA-mediated SS coating enhanced surface wettability and introduced functional groups.
• The scaffold morphology mimicked the extracellular matrix (ECM), improving cell-scaffold interactions.

Conclusions:

• The synergistic integration of TA and SS transforms hydrophobic PS into a bioactive platform.
• This approach offers a simple and robust strategy for fabricating advanced biomaterials.
• The developed scaffolds show potential for applications in regenerative medicine.