Electrospun Polyurethane/Small Intestinal Submucosa Blended Nanofibrous Mats for Potential Wound Healing

Tissue engineering for wound healing is an evolving field to restore skin defects resulted from disease, burn or trauma. Electrospinning technique has been widely utilized for fabricating nano/micro-scale fibrous scaffolds in tissue engineering for decades. In this study, a blended nanofibrous mat (NFM) using synthetic and natural polymers, polyurethane (PU) and SIS respectively, was fabricated for wound healing. Small intestine submucosa (SIS) was digested with pepsin prior to blending with PU solution. Morphology, functional groups, water contact angle, degradation test, and tensile testing were examined for physicochemical properties of the PU/SIS blended NFMs. 3T3-L1 cells seeded on NFMs and cell attachment and viability were evaluated as well. The PU/SIS blended NFMs showed enhanced hydrophilicity compared to the pure PU NFM. The mechanical properties of PU/SIS blended NFMs were found to be suitable for cell attachment and proliferation. Better initial attachment and proliferation of 3T3-L1 cells of PU/SIS blended NFMs compared to PU NFM were observed by cellular morphology demonstrated by SEM and a water-soluble tetrazolium salt assay kit. These results suggest that the novel combination of PU and SIS could be potentially applied for potential wound healing application.