Enhancement of Cardiac Myoblast Responses onto Electrospun PLCL Fibrous Matrices Coated with Polydopamine for Gelatin Immobilization

A variety of surface modification techniques have been proposed to improve the cell-biomaterial interactions. On the other hand, these processes may cleave long-chained polymers, and compromise their mechanical properties. In this study, dopamine was used as a bridge molecule to immobilize gelatin on the poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) (PLCL) fibrous matrices, which may then be used as a cell delivery carrier. The PLCL fibrous matrices coated with polydopamine by dipping (D-PLCL) can subsequently immobilize gelatin (GD-PLCL). The D-PLCL matrices showed minimal changes in the mechanical properties with a tensile strain of 251.0 +/- 33.4% and 247.8 +/- 32.1% before and after the coating process, respectively. The cellular activities on the fibrous matrices increased in the order of PLCL