Nanofibrous Scaffolds as Promising Cell Carriers for Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Nanofibers are promising cell carriers for tissue engineering of a variety of tissues and organs in the human organism. They have been experimentally used for reconstruction of tissues of cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Nanofibers are also promising for drug and gene delivery, construction of biosensors and biostimulators, and wound dressings. Nanofibers can be created from a wide range of natural polymers or synthetic biostable and biodegradable polymers. For hard tissue engineering, polymeric nanofibers can be reinforced with various ceramic, metal-based or carbon-based nanoparticles, or created directly from hard materials. The nanofibrous scaffolds can be loaded with various bioactive molecules, such as growth, differentiation and angiogenic factors, or funcionalized with ligands for the cell adhesion receptors. This review also includes our experience in skin tissue engineering using nanofibers fabricated from polycaprolactone and its copolymer with polylactide, cellulose acetate, and particularly from polylactide nanofibers modified by plasma activation and fibrin coating. In addition, we studied the interaction of human bone-derived cells with nanofibrous scaffolds loaded with hydroxyapatite or diamond nanoparticles. We also created novel nanofibers based on diamond deposition on a SiO2 template, and tested their effects on the adhesion, viability and growth of human vascular endothelial cells.