Rapid Fabrication of Poly(DL-lactide) Nanofiber Scaffolds with Tunable Degradation for Tissue Engineering Applications by Air-brushing

Published

April 28, 2016

Author(s)

Adam M. Behrens, Jeffrey J. Kim, Nathan A. Hotaling, Jonathan Seppala, Peter Kofinas, Wojtek J. Tutak

Abstract

Polymer nanofiber based materials have been widely investigated for use as tissue engineering scaffolds. While promising, these materials are typically fabricated through techniques that require significant time or cost. Here we report a cost effective method to air-brush nanofiber scaffolds using a simple apparatus, compressed air, and a polymer solution. For successful tissue regeneration, multifunctional scaffolds require controllable architectures and degradation rates. To accomplish this, high (Mw ≈ 100,000 g/mol) and low (Mw ≈ 25,000 g/mol) molecular weight poly(DL-lactide) (PDLLA) polymers were blended at various ratios. Through the use of the air-brush and PDLLA blends, we were able to control degradation rate with a minimal impact on fiber morphology, scaffold porosity, or bulk mechanical properties. These factors were chosen to illustrate air-brushing's versatility and tunability. The biological effects of degradation rate were demonstrated by performing transcriptional analysis of specific genes using a human bone marrow stromal cell (hBMSC) line. The air-brush method is a scalable fabrication approach that offers a facile process for developing and studying tissue engineering scaffolds.

Citation

Molecular Biotherapy

Volume

11

Issue

3

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

Blow spin, scaffold, biomaterials

Citation

Behrens, A. , Kim, J. , Hotaling, N. , Seppala, J. , Kofinas, P. and Tutak, W. (2016), Rapid Fabrication of Poly(DL-lactide) Nanofiber Scaffolds with Tunable Degradation for Tissue Engineering Applications by Air-brushing, Molecular Biotherapy, [online], https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-6041/11/3/035001 (Accessed October 14, 2025)