In vitro cell viability of PHBV/PLGA nanofibrous membrane for tissue engineering

Abstract

In recent decades, tissue engineering has emerged as an alternative solution to improve the quality of life for patients who suffer from diseases involving loss of tissues. The development of a biocompatible tissue engineering scaffold using nanofibrous membrane has garnered increasing interest in biomedical applications due to its similarity of structural property to the extracellular matrix, which is essential for cell growth. Thus, this study was conducted to fabricate a nanofibrous membrane with small diameter structure using a polymer blend of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and through the electrospinning technique, and to evaluate its biocompatibility with fibroblast cells. The nanofibrous structure was optimized using three different ratios (25:75; 50:50; 75:25) of PHBV/PLGA polymer. Characterization of the nanofibrous membrane was done using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), attenuated total reflection - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and water contact angle (WCA). Biocompatibility evaluation was done by culturing the nanofibrous membrane with human skin fibroblast cells (HSF), then measuring cell viability using MTT and live/dead assays. Results indicated that the nanofibrous membrane obtained a homogeneous morphology at 50:50 ratio with a fiber diameter range of 200 – 1000 nm, had a minimum contact angle of 106.90 ± 4.42°, and good cell viability with HSF. Analyses from the SEM analysis and live/dead assays showed that the cells had proliferated after 7 days. Findings from this study suggest that PHBV/PLGA nanofibrous membrane can be used as a biocompatible artificial scaffold in tissue engineering application.