From biodegradable to long-term polyurethanes: In vitro fibroblasts adhesion and degradation study of electrospun polyurethane membranes

Among the synthetic polymers, polyurethanes are one of the most important polymers applied in Tissue Engineering (TE). Their segmented block structure enables the control of different properties, such as, biocompatibility, blood compatibility, mechanical properties and also biodegradability. In this work, polyurethane membranes were obtained using the electrospinning apparatus. Fibroblasts cells were seeded on the membrane and the morphology, structure and cell adhesion and proliferation were studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Finally, the degradation behavior of the membranes was investigated by in vitro degradation studies. SEM results showed that the membrane presents high porosity, high surface area:volume ratio, it was observed a random fiber network. In vitro evaluation of fibroblasts cells showed that fibroblasts adhered and spread over the membrane surface and in vitro degradation study showed that the developed membrane can be considered a non-degradable polyurethane. This study supports further investigations of electrospun membranes as long-term devices for TE applications.