Fabrication Techniques for Platelet-Functionalized Nanofibers

Wound healing is a complex biological process. Disruption of the interplay of various signal molecules, cells and extracellular matrix may lead to chronic wounds. Chronic wound care is becoming a worldwide issue and thus,... [ view full abstract ]

Wound healing is a complex biological process. Disruption of the interplay of various signal molecules, cells and extracellular matrix may lead to chronic wounds. Chronic wound care is becoming a worldwide issue and thus, novel wound dressings are needed. Electrospun polymeric nanofibrous mats can serve as such dressing. They mimic extracellular matrix and can be functionalized with bioactive substances. Suitable source of bioactive substances are platelets, as they contain broad spectrum of growth factors in in physiological ratio. The aim of this work was to develop a characterize platelet-functionalized polymer nanofiber to promote keratinocyte metabolic activity and proliferation.
Polymeric polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers were prepared using the needleless electrospinning technique. Firstly, the PCL was functionalized by plain adhesion of platelets to the surface of nanofibers. Secondly, to improve the release characteristics of the composite scaffold, the platelets were embedded into PCL/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coaxial nanofibers, using the coaxial needleless electrospinning technique. The composite scaffolds were then seeded with keratinocytes and the influence of released growth factors on behavior of the keratinocytes was investigated.
The data showed that PCL scaffolds functionalized with platelets significantly promoted the initial adhesion, proliferation and metabolic activity of the seeded keratinocytes in comparison to the plain PCL control. The results indicate that such composite scaffolds are very promising in the field of regenerative medicine. 
The study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic within National Sustainability Program I: projects No. LO1605, LO1508, LO1309 and the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic project No. 17-32285A.