A Novel Composite Nano-scaffold with Potential Usage as Skin Dermo-epidermal Grafts for Chronic Wound Treatment

Nano-scaffolds loaded with bioactive compounds such as ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), as tissue-engineered artificial skin grafts, can be a suitable substitute for extracellular matrix and greatly contribute to accelerating chronic wound treatment by decreasing the chance of bacterial infection.

Silk fibroin nanofiber was fabricated by using electrospinning and three-dimensional porous hybrids (3DPH) nano-scaffold with composite of sodium alginate/ZnO-NPs solution and silk fibroin electrospun nanofibers by adopting freeze-drying method. Successful configuration of nanofibers and porous nano-scaffolds were confirmed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Antimicrobial activity, cell attachment, and cytotoxicity evaluation of scaffolds were performed by employing disk diffusion method, L929 cell culture, and MTT assay, respectively.

Antibacterial analysis of 3DPH nano-scaffolds revealed their appropriate antibacterial activity against the Staphylococcus aureus and the Escherichia coli bacteria. Furthermore, the results from cytotoxicity and cell adhesion analyses indicated the appropriate cell attachment, viability, and proliferation on the silk fibroin nanofibers and 3DPH nano-scaffold, which are fundamental for wound healing and skin dermo-epidermal grafts.

In sum, silk fibroin nanofiber as an epidermal graft and 3DPH nano-scaffold loaded with ZnO-NPs as a dermal graft were fabricated. Moreover, 1.5% (w/v) concentrations of ZnO-NPs were selected and incorporated into the 3DPH nano-scaffold. Considering the promising results of biological analyses, the nanofibrous and 3DPH nano-scaffolds composite may have been suitable for skin dermo-epidermal grafts and skin regeneration.