Evaluating the Structural Properties and Cellular Behavior of Electrospun Pol (hydroxybutyrate)/Chitosan Blend Scaffolds for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Achieving to a scaffold with suitable properties is a current challenge in tissue engineering. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a polymer which has attracted attentions due to have favorable properties such as good biocompatibility and relative high mechanical properties; but, its hydrophobicity and brittleness are not suitable for cartilage tissue engineering scaffold fabrication. Blending with other polymers is a strategy to solve this problem. This study aimed to prepare electrospun PHB/chitosan (CTS) blend scaffold and to investigate its structural properties and cellular behavior. First, polymeric solutions of PHB in trifluroacetic acid (TFA) were electrospun and after optimization of parameters, various percentages of chitosan with aim to improve its hydrophilicity and mechanical properties were added to polymeric solution and electrospun. To characterize prepared scaffolds, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tensile strength test, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), contact angle measurement, and porosimetry were performed. According to the obtained results, the scaffold containing 15 and 20 percent of chitosan were selected as the optimized scaffolds and were examined for rabbit chondrocyte cell adhesion test. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that electrospinning of the solution with PHB of 9% weight in 21 kilovolt at 15 cm produced the most uniform fibers; the scaffolds containing 10, 15 and 20 percent of CTS have more uniform fibers than the scaffold containing 5 percent. Finally, based on the results of other experiments, the scaffolds containing 15 and 20 percent of chitosan were identified as optimized scaffolds. SEM images showed good chondrocyte cell adhesion on these scaffolds. Addition of chitosan to PHB, can improve its mechanical and biological properties and hydrophilicity.