Fabrication of cardiac patch by using electrospun collagen fibers

Synergy between micro-nanotechnology and regenerative medicine can lead to new tools for health improvement. In this study, we investigate the efficacy of electrospun scaffolds - fabricated using clinically approved collagen - as supports for cardiomyoblast culture. The scaffolds were prepared using non-toxic solvents and crosslinking agents and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and contact angle measurements. Among different types of collagen samples, we found that atelocollagen can produce better quality of electrospun fibers than acid and basic fibrous collagen. Our results also show that the cell culture performance can be improved by adjusting the crosslinking conditions. Typically, increasing the concentration of citric acid of the cross-link agents from 5% to 10% w/w and the post-crosslink baking time from 1.5 to 2.5 h led to significant increases of the cellular colonization of the scaffold, showing three-dimensional growth of cardiac cells due to the specific morphology of the fibrous scaffolds. Finally, in vivo tests of the biocompatibility of the fabricated scaffolds have been done using a mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy. As expected, the biocompatibility of the scaffold was found excellent and no visible inflammation was observed after the implantation up to two weeks. However, 5% citric acid electrospun collagen scaffolds was less resistant in vivo, proving again the importance of the processing parameter optimization of the electrospun scaffolds. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.