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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Electrospun 3D multi-scale fibrous scaffold for

enhanced human dermal fibroblasts infiltration

1,2
1*
1
1
Wen Shing Leong , Shu Cheng Wu , Kee Woei Ng and Lay Poh Tan
1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore
639798, Singapore
2 School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore 599489, Singapore

Abstract: Electrospun polymeric nanofibrous scaffold possesses significant potential in the field of tissue engineering
due to its extracellular matrix mimicking topographical features that modulate a variety of key cellular activities. How-
ever, traditional two-dimensional (2D) electrospun scaffolds are generally close-packed fiber mats which prohibit cell
infiltration and proliferation. Consequently, the applications of electrospun scaffolds in regenerative medicine are li-
mited. In this study, we detail the use of a needle collector to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) electrospun poly-ε-cap-
rolactone (PCL) scaffolds with multi-scale fiber dimensions. The resultant pore size is 4 times larger than conventional
2D electrospun scaffolds with interweaving micro (3.3 ± 0.6 µm) and nano (240 ± 50 nm) fibers. The scaffold was sur-
face modified by grafting with gelatin molecules. It was found that surface modification significantly improved human
dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) cell infiltration throughout the 3D multi-scale scaffold. Even after an extended culture period
of up to 28 days, cell proliferation was well supported in the surface-modified 3D multi-scale scaffold as confirmed by
Ki67 staining. Extracellular matrix proteins secreted by the HDFs was evident on the 3D multi-scale PCL scaffold
showing promising potential to facilitate tissue regeneration, in particular dermal tissue engineering.
Keywords: tissue engineering, 3D electrospinning scaffold, human dermal fibroblasts, three-dimensional scaffold, cell
infiltration

*Correspondence to: Lay Poh Tan, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore; Email: lptan@ntu.edu.sg

Received: September 4, 2015; Accepted: October 14, 2015; Published Online: November 18, 2015
Citation: Leong W S, Wu S C, Ng K W, et al., 2016, Electrospun 3D multi-scale fibrous scaffold for enhanced human dermal fibro-
blasts infiltration. International Journal of Bioprinting, vol.2(1): 81–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/IJB.2016.01.002.

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1. Introduction for full thickness and chronic non-healing wound .
T mimicry scaffolds to trigger cell response and function
Continuous effort is focused on developing bio-
issue engineering aims to improve the health
and quality of human lives by restoring, main-
as those tissues of which they aim to restore. One of
taining, or enhancing the function of tissue and
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organ . Among all, skin tissue engineering is one of the approaches is to replicate extracellular matrix (ECM)
environment using nanofibrous scaffold. Nanofibers
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the most developed areas where engineered skin subs- have been demonstrated to promote vascularization
titutes are commercially available (e.g., Integra TM , and mimic the native ECM [5,6] to potentially develop
TM
TM
Dermagraft , Apligraf ). However, they do not fully functional tissue. Recently, nanofibers which are
recreate the function and aesthetics of the skin. As a known to have great influence over cellular behavior
result, it leads to unsatisfactory treatment, especially have been incorporated as promising scaffold feature

Electrospun 3D multi-scale fibrous scaffold for enhanced human dermal fibroblasts infiltration. © 2016 Wen Shing Leong, et al. This is an Open
Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licen-
ses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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