Abstract
Enhancing the cytocompatibility profiles, including cell attachment, growth and viability, of designed synthetic scaffolds, has a pivotal role in tissue engineering applications. Polymer blending is one of the most effective methods for providing new desirable biomaterials for tissue scaffolds. This article reports a novel polyamide 6/poly( -caprolactone) (PA6/PCL) blends solution which was fabricated to create composite fibrous tissue scaffolds by varying the concentration ratios of PA6 and PCL. Highly porous blends of fibrous scaffold were fabricated and their suitability as cell-support for EA.hy926 human endothelial cells was studied. Our results demonstrated that the unique nanoscale morphological properties and tune porosity of the blends scaffold were controlled. We found that these properties are mainly dependent on the PA6/PCL blending viscosity value, and the viscosity of the blending solution has an intense effect on the properties of the blends scaffold. The influence of the scaffolds extraction fluids and the scaffold direct contact of both the metabolic viability and the DNA integrity of EA.hy926 endothelial cells, as well as the cell/scaffold interaction analysis by scanning electron microscope, after different co-culturing intervals, demonstrated that PA6/PCL blend scaffolds showed different behaviors. Blend scaffolds of PA6/PCL of 90:10 ratio proved to be excellent endothelial cell carriers, which provided a good cell morphology, DNA integrity and viability, induced DNA synthesis/replication, and enhanced cell proliferation, attachment, and invasion. These results indicate that blends of PA6/PCL composite fibers are a promising 3D substitute for the next generation of synthetic tissue scaffolds that could soon find clinical applications.