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Aloe vera incorporated biomimetic nanofibrous scaffold: a regenerative approach for skin tissue engineering

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Abstract

Aloe vera (AV) is one of the medicinal herbs with a well-established spectrum of wound healing, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory property. AV-mediated therapeutics present significant tissue regenerative activity by modulating the inflammatory and proliferative phases of wound healing. The purpose of the present work was to combine the biological properties of AV and the advantages of electrospun meshes to prepare a potent transdermal biomaterial. The polycaprolactone (PCL) containing 5 and 10 wt % of lyophilized powder of AV was studied for electrospinning into nanoscale fiber mats and compared with PCL/Collagen blend for dermal substitutes. SEM revealed the average diameters of PCL, PCL-AV 5 %, PCL-AV 10 % and PCL/Collagen nanofiber scaffolds in the range of 519 ± 28, 264 ± 46, 215 ± 63 and 249 ± 52 nm, respectively. PCL-AV 10 % nanofiber scaffolds showed finer fiber morphology with improved hydrophilic properties and higher tensile strength of 6.28 MPa with a Young’s modulus of 16.11 MPa desirable for skin tissue engineering. The nanofibers were then used to investigate differences in biological responses in terms of proliferation and cell morphology of mice dermal fibroblasts. It was found that PCL-AV 10 % nanofibrous matrix favored cell proliferation compared to other scaffolds which almost increased linearly by (p ≤ 0.01) 17.79 % and (p ≤ 0.01) 21.28 % compared to PCL on sixth and ninth day. CMFDA dye expression, secretion of collagen and F-actin expression were significantly increased in PCL-AV 10 % scaffolds compared to other nanofibrous scaffolds. The obtained results proved that the PCL-AV 10 % nanofibrous scaffold is a potential biomaterial for skin tissue regeneration.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Department of Textile Technology, Anna University, Chennai, India and NUSNNI, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Textile Technology, A.C.Tech, Anna University, Chennai, 600 025, India

    S. Suganya, S. Agnes Mary & V. R. Giri Dev

  2. Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai, 600 025, India

    S. Suganya & B. S. Lakshmi

  3. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    J. Venugopal & S. Ramakrishna

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  1. S. Suganya
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  2. J. Venugopal
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  3. S. Agnes Mary
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  5. B. S. Lakshmi
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  6. V. R. Giri Dev
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Correspondence to V. R. Giri Dev.

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Suganya, S., Venugopal, J., Agnes Mary, S. et al. Aloe vera incorporated biomimetic nanofibrous scaffold: a regenerative approach for skin tissue engineering. Iran Polym J 23, 237–248 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-013-0219-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-013-0219-2

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