Fabrication and Characterization of a Nanofibrous Electrospun Polymeric Scaffold for Corneal Tissue Engineering

Abstract

This study deals with the development of a nanofibrous scaffold from silk fibroin and gelatin natural polymers that resemble the structure and property of human epithelial corneal tissues by electrospinning technique. Silk fibroin (SF) is a biocompatible and mechanically strong biopolymer, but it lacks cellular compatibility due to the absence of cell attachment sites. Gelatin (GE) is a biocompatible polymer that consist of RGD peptides which is an integral part of the fibrous structure. Therefore, both the polymers are blended to prepare a polymeric scaffold with desired properties. Silk solution was obtained from B. mori cocoons following standard degumming method and mixed with gelatin at different ratios. The blended solution was electrospun to fabricate 2D polymeric matrix with nanofibrous architecture that resembled the extracellular matrix of the epithelial tissues. The optimum composition and hence suitability of the SF/GE scaffold to act as platform for corneal tissue engineering was determined through a variety of physicochemical tests like morphological analysis, transparency, mechanical testing, porosity, hydrophilicity, swelling and degradation profiles. Moreover, in vitro cytotoxicity, cell attachment and ROS studies were performed by culturing Statens Seruminstitut Rabbit Cornea (SIRC) cell line over the developed scaffold. The studies depicted that the scaffolds posses optimum transparency, excellent mechanical properties and acceptable cellular biocompatibility. Therefore, we predict that the developed scaffold can be an ideal candidate in the field of corneal tissue engineering.