Enhancement of nanofibrous scaffold of multiwalled carbon nanotubes/polyurethane composite to the fibroblasts growth and biosynthesis

In this work, the effect of nanofibrous structure and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) incorporation in the polyurethane (PU) on the fibroblasts growth behavior was studied. The nanofibrous scaffold of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and polyurethane composite (MWNT/PU) with an average fiber diameter of 300-500 nm was fabricated by electrospinning technique. The nanofibrous scaffold of PU, smooth film of PU, and MWNT/PU were also prepared as controls. Cell viability assay, laser confocal microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were applied to evaluate cell adhesion, proliferation, and cytoskeletal development on the scaffolds, respectively. Cell-released protein was analyzed by Bradford protein assay, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), mass spectrometry, and transwell assay, respectively. Experimental results demonstrated that the scaffold with nanofibrous structure and MWNTs incorporation exhibited highest enhancement not only to the cell adhesion and proliferation but also to the cell migration and aggregation. Besides, cells cultured on the nanofibrous, scaffold of MWNT/PU released the largest amount of proteins including collagen in comparison with those on the other substrates. Hence, the nanofibrous architecture and MWNTs incorporation provided favorite interactions to the cells, which implied the application potentials of the nanofibrous composite for tissue repair and regeneration. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 88A: 105-116, 2009