Utilization of electrospun silk fibroin fibers as scaffolding material for Schwann cell culture

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine the appropriate condition of the electrospinning process of the silk Bombyx mori to produce silk fibroin nanofibers by using formic acid as a solvent. The concentrations of silk fibroin solution and the applied voltages were varied from 15 to 30 kV and 42 to 52% w/v, respectively. The morphology of electrospun silk fibroin nanofibers was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The appropriate condition of electrospinniong process that could generate the nanofibers without the presence of beads were 25 kV and 50% w/v, respectively. The thermal properties and the structural characteristics of electrospun silk fibroin nanofibers were investigated through thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The electrospun silk fibroin nanofibers exhibited mass loss over a temperature range of 270 to 370 ℃ and had the β-sheet conformation. In addition, two types of scaffolds, electrospun fibrous mats and films, were fabricated for the Schwann cells culture. Biological response of the cells towards the scaffolds was tested by observing the cytotoxicity, the attachment, and the proliferation of Schwann cells that were seeded on the scaffolds. The MTT solution or 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) was used to quantify the viability of the cells. The Schwann cell morphology on the scaffolds was examined by SEM. The obtained results indicated the fibrous mat scaffold promoted better growth of Schwann cells than the film did, although Schwann cells could not maintain their phenotypes on the fibrous scaffold. These data suggested that the electrospun silk fibroin fibers could be more further studied and developed to be a preferable scaffold for Schwann cell culture.