Electrospinning Natural Polymers for Tissue Engineering Applications

Electrospinning is an efficient method by which to produce scaffolds composed of nanoscale to microscale fibers, which are comparable to the fiber diameters of native components of the extracellular matrix. In electrospinning, a polymer solution is pumped through a syringe that is connected to a high voltage source. As a droplet forms at the tip of the needle, electrostatic repulsions form long fibers that are collected onto a grounded metal plate in the form of a nanofibrous mat. These structures can be used in tissue engineering and drug delivery applications. Natural polymers are candidate materials to develop as electrospun scaffolds. Fibrinogen is one such protein that is present in blood plasma. Physiologically, the reaction between fibrinogen and thrombin leads to the assembly of fibrous structures that play a key role in wound healing. Collagen is another natural polymer that is an essential component of the extracellular matrix. It is largely responsible for the mechanical integrity of the extracellular matrix, making it ideal to be electrospun as a scaffold. The feasibility of electrospinning fibrinogen and collagen into viable nanofibrous scaffolds was explored in this study. Both proteins were produced as nanofibrous mats when certain electrospinning parameters were applied. While nonuniformities were observed in these structures, the presence of nanofibers throughout the mats and the versatility of the electrospinning process suggest that uniform nanofibrous scaffolds can be formed from these proteins. Finally, because fibrinogen and collagen are naturally occurring, these scaffolds have much potential to support cell adhesion and growth for use in tissue engineering applications.