Interpenetrated nano- and submicro-fibrous biomimetic scaffolds towards enhanced mechanical and biological performances

Abstract Developing fibrous scaffolds with hierarchical structures that closely mimic natural extracellular matrix (ECM) is highly desirable. However, fabricating scaffolds with true nanofibers ( 90%. Additionally, the combination of CA submicrofibers with BC nanofibers leads to significantly improved mechanical properties over nanofibrous BC and submicrofibrous CA scaffolds and enlarged pores over nanofibrous BC scaffold. In addition, the biological behaviors of prepared BC/CA on MC3T3-E1 cells were investigated. Results suggested that BC/CA scaffold is beneficial for cell migration and proliferation. Moreover, the BC/CA scaffold shows higher alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and calcium depositions. In addition, the hierarchical structures can effectively improve the expression of osteogenic gene (ALP mRNA and Runx2 mRNA) and protein (ALP). We believe that the methodology might provide biomimetic morphological microenvironments for enhanced tissue regeneration.