Title:Applications of Poly(caprolactone)-based Nanofibre Electrospun Scaffolds in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Author(s): Wei Zhang, Tingting Weng, Qiong Li, Ronghua Jin, Chuangang You, Pan Wu, Jiaming Shao, Sizhan Xia, Min Yang, Chunmao Han and Xingang Wang*
Affiliation:
- Department of Burns & Wound Care Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009,China
Keywords:
Poly(caprolactone), tissue engineering, regeneration, biomaterials, regenerative medicine, nanofibre.
Abstract: Diseases, trauma, and injuries are highly prevalent conditions that lead to many critical
tissue defects. Tissue engineering has great potentials to develop functional scaffolds that mimic natural
tissue structures to improve or replace biological functions. In many kinds of technologies,
electrospinning has received widespread attention for its outstanding functions, which is capable of
producing nanofibre structures similar to the natural extracellular matrix. Amongst the available
biopolymers for electrospinning, poly (caprolactone) (PCL) has shown favorable outcomes for tissue
regeneration applications. According to the characteristics of different tissues, PCL can be modified
by altering the functional groups or combining with other materials, such as synthetic polymers,
natural polymers, and metal materials, to improve its physicochemical, mechanical, and biological
properties, making the electrospun scaffolds meet the requirements of different tissue engineering
and regenerative medicine. Moreover, efforts have been made to modify nanofibres with
several bioactive substances to provide cells with the necessary chemical cues and a more in vivo
like environment. In this review, some recent developments in both the design and utility of electrospun
PCL-based scaffolds in the fields of bone, cartilage, skin, tendon, ligament, and nerve are
highlighted, along with their potential impact on future research and clinical applications.
