Aligned and random nanofibrous substrate for the in vitro culture of Schwann cells for neural tissue engineering

Abstract The current challenge in peripheral nerve tissue engineeringis to produce an implantable scaffoldcapable of bridging long nerve gaps that will produce results similar to autograft without requiring the harvest of autologous donor tissue. Aligned and random polycaprolactone/ gelatin(PCL/ gelatin) nanofibrous scaffoldswere fabricated for the in vitro culture of Schwann cellsthat assist in directing the growth of regenerating axons in nerve tissue engineering. The average fiber diameter attained by electrospinning of polymer blend(PCL/ gelatin) ranged from 232 ± 194 to 160 ± 86 nm with high porosity (90%). Blending PCL with gelatinresulted in increased hydrophilicity of nanofibrous scaffoldsand yielded better mechanical properties, approaching those of PCL nanofibers. The biocompatibility of fabricated nanofibers was assessed for culturing and proliferation of Schwann cellsby MTS assay. The results of the MTS assay and scanning electron microscopy confirmed that aligned and random PCL/ gelatinnanofibrous scaffoldsare suitable substrates for Schwann cellgrowth as compared to PCL nanofibrous scaffoldsfor neural tissue engineering.