Chitosan functionalized poly-ε-caprolactone electrospun fibers and 3D printed scaffolds as antibacterial materials for tissue engineering applications

Myriam G Tardajos; Giuseppe Cama; Mamoni Dash; Lara Misseeuw; Tom Gheysens; Christian Gorzelanny; Tom Coenye; Peter Dubruel

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.02.060

Chitosan functionalized poly-ε-caprolactone electrospun fibers and 3D printed scaffolds as antibacterial materials for tissue engineering applications

Carbohydr Polym. 2018 Jul 1:191:127-135. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.02.060. Epub 2018 Feb 21.

Authors

Myriam G Tardajos¹, Giuseppe Cama¹, Mamoni Dash², Lara Misseeuw¹, Tom Gheysens¹, Christian Gorzelanny³, Tom Coenye⁴, Peter Dubruel⁵

Affiliations

¹ Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group (PBM), Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
² Institute of Life Sciences. Nalco Square, Bhubaneswar-751023. India.
³ Department of Dermatology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany.
⁴ Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
⁵ Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group (PBM), Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Peter.dubruel@ugent.be.

PMID: 29661300
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.02.060

Abstract

Tissue engineering (TE) approaches often employ polymer-based scaffolds to provide support with a view to the improved regeneration of damaged tissues. The aim of this research was to develop a surface modification method for introducing chitosan as an antibacterial agent in both electrospun membranes and 3D printed poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) scaffolds. The scaffolds were functionalized by grafting methacrylic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (NHSMA) onto the surface after Ar-plasma/air activation. Subsequently, the newly-introduced NHS groups were used to couple with chitosan of various molecular weights (Mw). High Mw chitosan exhibited a better coverage of the surface as indicated by the higher N% detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the observations with either scanning electron microscopy (SEM)(for fibers) or Coomassie blue staining (for 3D-printed scaffolds). A lactate dehydrogenase assay (LDH) using L929 fibroblasts demonstrated the cell-adhesion and cell-viability capacity of the modified samples. The antibacterial properties against S. aureus ATCC 6538 and S. epidermidis ET13 revealed a slower bacterial growth rate on the surface of the chitosan modified scaffolds, regardless the chitosan Mw.

Keywords: Antibacterial; Chitosan; Poly-ε-caprolactone; Scaffolds; Surface functionalization.