Evaluation of proanthocyanidin-crosslinked electrospun gelatin nanofibers for drug delivering system

Electrospun nanofibers are excellent candidates for various biomedical applications. We successfully fabricated proanthocyanidin-crosslinked gelatin electrospun nanofibers. Proanthocyanidin, a low cytotoxic collagen crosslinking reagent, increased the gelatin crosslinking percentage in the nanofibers from 53% to 64%. The addition of proanthocyanidin kept the nanofibers from swelling, and, thus, made the fibers more stable in the aqueous state. The compatibility and the release behavior of the drug in the nanofibers were examined using magnesium ascorbyl phosphate as the model drug. Proanthocyanidin also promoted drug loading and kept the drug release rate constant. These properties make the proanthocyanidin-crosslinked gelatin nanofibers an excellent material for drug delivery. In the cell culture study, L929 fibroblast cells had a significantly higher proliferation rate when cultured with the gelatin/proanthocyanidin blended nanofibers. This characteristic showed that proanthocyanidin-crosslinked gelatin electrospun nanofibers could potentially be employed as a wound healing material by increasing cell spreading and proliferation. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.