Harnessing nanotopography of PCL/collagen nanocomposite membrane and changes in cell morphology coordinated with wound healing activity

Topographical cues at nanoscale are important to sustain an environment capable of controlling cell behavior. This work presents a novel approach for the fabrication of nanotopographical patterned polymeric nanofibers. Also, the influence of nanofibrous patterns on accelerated directional migration and proliferation of cells was investigated on this work. For the fabrication of scab-inspired nanofibrous membrane, a polycaprolactone (PCL) containing with collagen nanofibrous mats with various nanotopographical patterns were fabricated. Nanotopographical pattern provides hierarchical cellular control by directing morphology of cells and influencing formation of integrin on the nanoscale. Moreover, the cellular infiltration of membrane was tested to evaluate wound healing progression using a function of confocal Z-depth. As a result, various factors such as the fibers orientation of the scaffold and the depth of cell penetration have been shown to affect wound healing. Fibroblasts were ordered and polarized with the aligned nanofibers, showing aligned cytoskeleton stress and robust focal adhesions at the cells' leading edge. This nanofabrication approach has potential applications as multifunctional biomaterials for rapid wound healing, scaffold-based cellular control, and biomedical technology.