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International Journal of Polymeric Materials and

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Effect of Nanoporous Fibers on Growth and

Proliferation of Cells on Electrospun Poly (ϵ-
caprolactone) Scaffolds
a b a a
Fatemeh Jahanmard Hossein Abadi , Mohammad Amani Tehran , Fatemeh Zamani ,
b c b
Marziyeh Nematollahi , Laleh Ghasemi Mobarakeh & Mohammad Hossein Nasr-Esfahani
a
Department of Textile Engineering , Amir Kabir University of Technology , Tehran , Iran
b
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology , Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute
for Biotechnology, ACECR , Isfahan , Iran
c
Click for updates Department of Textile Engineering , Isfahan University of Technology , Isfahan , Iran
Accepted author version posted online: 24 Jun 2013.Published online: 27 Sep 2013.

To cite this article: Fatemeh Jahanmard Hossein Abadi , Mohammad Amani Tehran , Fatemeh Zamani , Marziyeh
Nematollahi , Laleh Ghasemi Mobarakeh & Mohammad Hossein Nasr-Esfahani (2014) Effect of Nanoporous Fibers on Growth
and Proliferation of Cells on Electrospun Poly (ϵ-caprolactone) Scaffolds, International Journal of Polymeric Materials and
Polymeric Biomaterials, 63:2, 57-64, DOI: 10.1080/00914037.2013.769248

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 International Journal of Polymeric Materials and Polymeric Biomaterials, 63: 57–64
Copyright # 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0091-4037 print/1563-535X online
DOI: 10.1080/00914037.2013.769248

Effect of Nanoporous Fibers on Growth and Proliferation of

Cells on Electrospun Poly (e-caprolactone) Scaffolds
FATEMEH JAHANMARD HOSSEIN ABADI1,2, MOHAMMAD AMANI TEHRAN1, FATEMEH ZAMANI1,
MARZIYEH NEMATOLLAHI2, LALEH GHASEMI MOBARAKEH3, and MOHAMMAD HOSSEIN NASR-ESFAHANI2
1
Department of Textile Engineering, Amir Kabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran
3
Department of Textile Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
Downloaded by [The University of Manchester Library] at 22:50 22 December 2014

Received 30 September 2012, Accepted 19 January 2013

Scaffold design has a critical role in tissue engineering as scaffold features affect cell attachment and proliferation. Size scale
similarities of electrospun nano-=microfibrous scaffolds with a native extracellular matrix have been appealing for tissue engineering
applications and numerous studies have investigated the effect of different aspects of nano-=microfibrous scaffolds such as fiber
diameter, thickness of nano-=microfibrous scaffolds on cell behavior. In this study, electrospun poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL) micro-
fibrous scaffolds were fabricated with nanosized pores on the surfaces of fibers created by the electrospinning of PCL solution with
a highly volatile solvent in a humid ambient and the effects of nanopores on the attachment and proliferation of epithelial kidney
cells (Vero) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were investigated. Morphology and hydrophilicity of the scaffolds were analyzed by
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the video contact angle system and evaluation of cells proliferation and morphology of
them on scaffolds were performed by MTS assay and SEM. Our results showed that relative humidity (RH) and electrospinning
parameters affect the creation of pores on the surface of scaffolds. Furthermore, MTS assay and SEM results showed that nanopores
on the surface of microfibers enhance initial attachment and proliferations of Vero and MSCs cells, which may be related to an
increase in surface area of the porous fibrous scaffold compared to the nonporous fibrous scaffold.
Keywords: Electrospinning, microfibers, nanopores, scaffold

1. Introduction specific surfaces, which provided a relatively high quantity

Tissue engineering is a multidisciplinary field that combines
knowledge of cells and fabrication of scaffolds as a synthetic
extracellular matrix (ECM) with specific physical, mechan-
ical. and biological properties, which aims for in vitro engin-
eering of living tissues for the regeneration of damaged or
lost tissues=organs of living organisms [1–4].
Scaffolds have a pivotal role in tissue engineering as they
mimic the native extracellular matrix and must be a physical
support for seeded cells and appropriate template for cells
that can be adhesive, migrate, proliferate, and differentiate.
Appropriate mechanical and biological properties of scaffolds
facilitate cell growth, allow efficient exchange of nutrients and
metabolic wastes between scaffolds and the environment, and
provide a large surface area for the delivery of biochemical
signals to the seeded cells [5–7].
Nano-=microfibrous scaffolds have gained appeal in
tissue engineering due to their similarity in dimension with
the native extracellular matrix and the creation of large
Address correspondence to: Mohammad Amani Tehran,
Department of Textile Engineering, Amir Kabir University of
Technology, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: amani@aut.ac.ir
of cell loading per unit of mass [8–11].
With this goal, electrospinning as a fabrication technique
is considered as the most suitable, simple, and powerful tech-
nique for the construction of fibrous scaffolds due to the low
cost, rapid prototyping, and effective fabrication technique
to produce nano- to microscale fibers [10–12].
The architecture of nano-=microfibrous scaffolds from the
viewpoint of fiber diameter, scaffold porosity, and pore
diameter has been investigated by most researchers as three
basic geometric parameters. Their results showed that
smaller fiber diameters and optimum pore size regarding
cell size and high porosity along with suitable mechanical
properties obtain proper substrates that effectively enhance
cell proliferation [13,14]. The pore size and porosity influence
on interaction of cell behavior as increasing porosity affect
on increasing water adsorption of scaffold, attachment,
proliferation, and differentiation of cells, which induce tissue
regeneration [15–17].
Despite the natural porosity of electrospun fabricates that
have been well studied, the nanoscale porosity on the surface
of fibers is also another critical parameter that can improve
the proliferation and attachment of cells on the scaffolds
and has been considered to a lesser extent. Nanoporous
 58
structures on the surface of micro-=nanofibers increase the
surface area of nano-=microfibrous scaffolds, and thereby
enhance the initial cell attachment and amount of protein
absorption onto electrospun scaffold and this property has
made them particularly appealing for tissue engineering [18].
The effect of pores on the surface of microfibers in cell
adhesion and proliferation has recently been reported in sev-
eral papers. Biocompatibility of PCL microfibrous scaffolds
has been found to increase with the presence of nanopores
on the surface of microfibers compared to scaffolds without
nanopores on the surfaces [19]. Additionally, a higher
attachment of porcine esophageal epithelial cell and protein
adsorption on porous electrospun microfibrous scaffolds has
been observed on nanoporous fibrous scaffolds as compared
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to the solvent-cast film and common fibrous scaffolds without
any pores on the surface of the fibers [18]. Therefore, it is
essential to develop techniques inducing nanopores on the
surface of electrospun nano-=microfibers, while maintaining
the scaffold geometry during cell growth. Electrospun fibers
with highly porous morphologies can be obtained by applying
various methods such as a ternary system of nonsolvent=
solvent=polymer [20], high boiling point solvent [21], selective
removal of one component from composite fibers [22,23], elec-
trospinning in a humid ambient [24,25], and electrospinning
polymers on the collector with modified temperature [26].
Biomaterials are defined as a substance that does not
have any reverse interaction and toxic effect with biological
systems [27].
One of the most commonly synthetic biomaterials for medi-
cal usage is PCL, due to its biocompatibility and slow biode-
gradability [28,29]. In many studies, PCL was used as a tissue
engineering scaffold aiming at the regeneration of tissues such
as cartilage [30,31], bone [32], and nerve tissues [33,34].
In this study, electrospun PCL microfibrous scaffolds are
fabricated with nanopores on their surface by electrospinning
in humid ambient in order to generate promising scaffolds and
the effect of electrospinning parameters on the creation of
pores on the surface of microfibers was studied. Furthermore,
the proliferation and spreading Vero cells and MSCs was
evaluated for understanding the effect of the presence of
nanopores on the surface of PCL microfiber in cell behavior.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Materials
Poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL) (MW ¼ 80,000) was purchased
from Sigma-Aldrich. Chloroform, dimethylformamide
(DMF), sodium bicarbonate, and hydrochloric acid were
purchased from Merck. Cell Titer 961 aqueous cell prolifer-
ation assay kit (MTS) was obtained from Promega (Madison,
WI, USA) and Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium
(DMEM), fetal calf serum (FCS), and phosphate buffered
saline (PBS) were purchased from Gibco.
2.2 Preparation of Microfibrous Scaffold
The PCL was dissolved in chloroform=DMF with different
ratios and concentrations. The solutions were placed in a
F. J. Hossein Abadi et al.
1 mL syringe and electrospun in a humid ambient at the volt-
age of 13 kV and were collected on an aluminum foil placed
at the distance of 20 cm from the needle tip. Polymeric fibers
were fabricated in a humid ambient. Once the process was
completed, the fibrous mesh was dried at ambient tempera-
ture for 72 h to remove the residual solvent.
2.3 Characterization of Scaffolds
Vacuum-dried scaffolds were gold sputtered and their
morphologies were observed under scanning electron micro-
scope (SEM; Philips, XL30) at an accelerating voltage of 15 kV.
The contact angle of electrospun fibrous scaffold for the
determination of scaffolds wettability (or hydrophilicity)
was measured by a video contact angle system (VCA Optima,
AST Products). When water droplets (with a size of 0.5 mm)
were placed on the surface of the scaffold, the video measured
the contact angle of the droplets. Five samples were used for
each test and the average value was reported with standard
deviation.
2.4 Cell Culture Study
The scaffolds were sterilized under UV radiation for 2 h and
washed three times with PBS for 20 min. Then they were cut
into circular discs with a diameter of 15 mm and placed in a
24-well plate. MSCs and Vero cells were cultured in DMEM
supplemented with FCS and were isolated upon 70%
confluency by trypsin–EDTA. Viable cells were counted by
trypan blue assay and 4000 cells were subsequently seeded
onto scaffolds placed in a 24-well plate and tissue culture
polystyrene (TCP) was taken as the control.
2.5 Cell Attachment Studies
After two, four, and eight days of cell seeding, the specimens
were rinsed with PBS three times and immersed in 2.5%
glutaraldehyde solution for 2 h. Subsequently, they were
dehydrated with graded concentrations of ethanol (50%,
70%, 90%, and 100% v=v). Then, the samples were coated
with gold using sputter coating for 60 s at 76 mA and
observed under SEM.
2.6 Cell Proliferation Studies
To study the cell proliferation on different substrates,
viable cells were determined by colorimetric MTS assay
[3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-
2-(4sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt] (Promega,
Madison, WI, USA). After two, four, and eight days of cell
seeding in a 24-well plate, the culture medium was removed
from the wells and cells incubated with 10% of MTS reagent
containing serum free medium. After 4 h of incubation,
aliquots were pipetted into a 96-well plate. The absorbance
of the content of each well was measured at 450 nm using
a spectrophotometric plate reader.
2.7 Statistical Analysis
All data presented are expressed by mean
SD. Statistical
analysis was performed by using single-factor analysis of
 Effect of Nanoporous Fibers
variance (ANOVA) on MTS results. A value of p ¼ 0.05
(95% confidence level) was selected.
3. Results
3.1 Study of the Fiber Morphology
Figure 1 shows the morphology of PCL microfibers fabri-
cated by electrospinning of PCL solution with a concen-
tration of 13% and different volume ratio of chloroform
and DMF (70:30, 75:25, and 90:10) as solvent in a humid
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Fig. 1. Representative SEM images of the electrospun PCL
microfibers obtained from different chloroform=DMF ratio:
(a) 70=30, (b) 75=25, and (c) 90=10.
59
ambient (60%). As can be observed in this figure,
chloroform=DMF with the ratios of 90=10 produced more
porous fibers compared to other ratios revealing the suit-
ability of this ratio for the production of porous microfibers.
Figure 2 demonstrates the effect of concentration of
electrospinning solution on the porosity of electrospun
microfibers. As can be seen in this figure, the beaded fibers
were made at a concentration lower than 10% of polymer
solution in chloroform=DMF (90=10). However, the
porosity of fibers increased by increasing the concentration
of the polymer solution up to 13% and no continuous fiber
was produced at higher concentrations.
Figure 3 reveals the morphology of PCL microfibers
produced by dissolving PCL at chloroform=DMF (90=10)
with a concentration of 13% and electrospinning resultant
solution at various relative humidities (35
5%, 45
5%,
55
5%, and >60%) and constant ambient temperature
(25 C). The results showed that porosity of the fibers
Fig. 2. SEM image on the surface of electrospun PCL with
various polymer concentrations: (a) 7% (v=v), (b) 10% (v=v),
and (c) 13% (v=v).
 60 F. J. Hossein Abadi et al.
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Fig. 3. SEM micrographs of PCL fibrous scaffold under

varying relative humidity: (a) 35
5%, (b) 45
5%, (c)
55
5%, and (d) 70%.

increased significantly by increasing RH up to 60% and

reduced at higher humidities until no pore was formed on
the surface of the fibers.
Figure 4 illustrates the morphology of microfibers
produced at the aforementioned solution and electrospin-
ning in different temperatures of 20
2 C, 25
2 C, and
30
2 Cc at the same RH (60%).
As shown in this figure, the microfibers fabricated at a
temperature of 25
2 C produced more porous fibers
compared to lower and higher temperatures.
Regarding the presence of more pores on the surface of
microfibers fabricated at an RH of 55
5% and temperature
of 25
2 C, this condition was chosen for the production of
microfibers as a base condition.
Fibers fabricated at PCL solution with a concentration
of 13% in chloroform=DMF (90:10) at various relative
humidities of 35
5%, 45
5%, and 55
5% and constant
temperature of 25
2 C were labeled as nonporous, low
porous, and high-porous microfibers, respectively, and used
hereafter for cell culture during this study.

3.2 Hydrophilicity Measurement

Table 1 shows the results of contact angle measurement for
Fig. 4. SEM images of electrospun PCL fibers as a function of
different scaffolds.
temperature: (a) 20
2 C, (b) 25
2 C, and (c) 30
2 C.
As can be observed in the table, the presence of pores on
the surface of microfibers did not change the hydrophilicity
significantly.

3.3 In Vitro Cell Culture Study Table 1. Contact angle of scaffold with high, low, and
nonporous fibers
In this study, MTS assay was used to compare cell prolifer-
ation on different scaffolds (none, low and high porous Substrate Contact angle ( )
fibers). As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the proliferation of
Vero and MSCs cells cultured on the scaffolds increased Scaffold with high porous fibers 101
8
by increasing pores on the surface of microfibers and Scaffold with low porous fibers 107
2
proliferation of Vero cells on the scaffold were found to be Scaffold with nonporous fibers 110
4
 Effect of Nanoporous Fibers
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Fig. 5. MTS results of Vero cells on high porous fibers, low
porous fibers and solid fibers after two, four, and eight days
of cell seeding. (Figure is provided in color online.)
Fig. 6. MTS results of MSCs on high porous fibers, low porous
fibers, and solid fibers after two, four, and eight days of cell
seeding. (Figure is provided in color online.)
higher than tissue culture plates (TCP) as a control, while
proliferation of MSCs cells on scaffolds were lower than
TCP.
Figures 7 and 8 show the morphology of Vero cells and
MSCs on the PCL microfibrous scaffolds after two, four,
and eight days of cell seeding. As can be seen in these figures,
the spreading of Vero and MSCs was higher on porous
microfibers than that on low and non-porous fibers, which
is consistent with MTS results.
4. Discussion
Tissue engineering provides the basis for future cell trans-
plantation and offers an appealing approach for the use of
appropriate scaffolds for cells in order to adhere, proliferate,
migrate, and differentiate onto them [34]. It is well accepted
that appropriate scaffolds for tissue regeneration should
possess a number of critical properties. Besides the biological
factors such as cell seeding density and nutrient con-
centration, the micro- and nanostructure of the scaffold also
61
Fig. 7. Morphology of Vero cells on (a) high porous fibers, (b)
low porous fibers, and (c) solid fibers after four days of cell
culture.
plays an important role in tissue engineering and therefore,
designing a proper scaffold is essential for the quality of engi-
neered tissues and success in tissue regeneration [35]. Scaffolds
can be produced by a number of different methods such
as phase separation, self-assembly, and electrospinning [13].
Electrospinning is a simple and effective fabrication tech-
nique for the preparation of nano-=microfibrous scaffolds
that can mimic the dimensional structure of natural ECM
and can also increase cell attachment and spreading due to
their large specific surface [6].
The presence of nanopores on the surface of nano-=
microfibrous scaffolds provides larger specific surface as pores
induce additional anchorage points for the cells to attach
and improve interaction between cells and scaffolds [18].
Electrospinning of nanoporous fibrous scaffolds using high
vapor pressure solvent in a humid ambient is the most pre-
valent method to produce nanopores on the surface of the
 62
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Fig. 8. Morphology of MSCs on (a) high porous fibers, (b) low
porous fibers, and (c) solid fibers after four days of cell culture.
micro- and nanofibers. Vapor-induced phase separation (VIPS)
and breath figures are relevant mechanisms that can explain
the phenomena of pore formation in electrospun fibers [24].
In VIPS, when the highly volatile solvent evaporates
rapidly from the surface of the fibers, water vapor condenses
on the cold fiber surfaces in a humid ambient. Finally, the
penetration of water onto the solution as a nonsolvent
induces the phase separation of the homogeneous mixture
of polymer=solvent. As a result, pores form upon the evap-
oration of the solvent and polymer-poor regions (pores) are
dispersed around the polymer-rich regions [18–24].
Breath figure is another mechanism to explain the reason
for utilizing porous fiber when using highly volatile solvents
in the humid ambient. When the solvent evaporates from the
F. J. Hossein Abadi et al.
solution of polymer=solvent, the surfaces of fibers tend to be
chilled and water vapor condenses on the surface. As the
fibers dry, water droplets leave 3D array pores on the surface
of the fibers [24–36].
There are several reports that fabricate nanoporous fibers
using electrospinning. Casper et al. fabricated nanoporous
polystyrene fibers in a humid ambient. They found that the
creation of pores on the surface of electrospun fibers results
from a combination of both phase separation and breath
figure mechanism in RH higher than 30%. Their results also
showed that the pore size distribution, pore diameter, and
number of pores on the surface of fibers increase by increas-
ing the amount of RH [24].
Pant et al. also fabricated porous PCL microfibers using
electrospinning of PCL solution containing methoxy poly
(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) as additives and further removed
MPEG in a water-bath collector upon dissolving MPEG in
water. Their results revealed that water bath electrospinning
of PCL=MPEG led to fast phase separation of polymeric
solution and pores formed on the surface of microfibers [19].
This study aimed at fabricating nanoporous microfibrous
scaffolds by electrospinning PCL solution in a humid ambi-
ent of 30–70% and constant temperature of 25 C.
The blending of chloroform and DMF was chosen as sol-
vent, while DMF improves the electrospinning characteristics
of viscoelastic polymer solutions and Chloroform has high
volatility (boiling point ¼ 61 C), less toxicity and better
spinnability compared to other solvents for PCL [37]. The
results showed when chloroform was used as a solvent indi-
vidually, blockage of the tip occurred. However, the use of
the blend of chloroform and DMF as a solvent produced con-
tinuous fibers without blockage of the tip, which might be due
to an increase of electric conductivity of the solvent caused by
DMF. Chloroform=DMF with a ratio of 90=10 was selected
as the best candidate as solvent for the fabrication of nano-
porous fibers and at a higher ratio of DMF the number of
pores on the surface of microfibers decreased (Figure 1).
Park et al. also investigated the effect of binary solvent
systems tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylacetamide
(DMAc) on the production of porous ethyl cellulose fibers
and their findings revealed that blending THF=DMAc as a
solvent with the ratio of 80=20 obtained more uniform fiber
and more pores on the surface of fibers compared to fibers
fabricated using THF alone as THF evaporates more rapidly
than DMAc and therefore, nanopores could be formed on
the surface of fibers as DMAc evaporates [38].
Solution concentration was also found to be effective on
the shape and size of nanopores during this study. Higher
polymer concentrations resulted in larger fiber diameters
and larger fiber diameters led to an increase in the number
of pores on the surface of the fibers. Gentsch et al.
electrospun micro- and nanofibers in humid conditions
and their results also showed that fiber diameter influences
the formation of pores on their surface. Whereas the pores
formed on the surface of microfibers, no pores were
produced on the surface of nanofibers [39].
Additionally, our results showed that other electrospin-
ning parameters such as working distance, voltage and flow
 Effect of Nanoporous Fibers
rate did not have a significant effect on the number, size and
shape of the pores on the surface of microfibers. Megelski
et al. also observed that working distance and voltage did
not significantly affect pore size distribution and porosity
of nanofibers, while the mean pore size increased with an
increase in flow rate [40].
Our results also demonstrate that increasing the amount of
RH up to 60% led to porous surface fibers due to phase
separation and breathe figure mechanism. It can be concluded
that competition between the solvent evaporation rate and
amount of RH in a constant temperature create pores on the
surface of microfibers and by increasing the amount of RH,
the solvent evaporation rate decreases. The upper RH (more
than 60%) compensates the solvent evaporation rate, which
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decreases the number of pore formed on the fiber surfaces
and hence over the 70% of the RH all pores disappeared.
In previous works, porous PS fibers fabricated in a humid
ambient. It is found that electrospinning at an RH of above
30% produced porous fibers and increasing the amount of
RH causes an increase in the number of pores on the surface
of the fibers [18]. In another work, PCL solution in chloroform
was electrospun at an intermediate RH of 47–68% and the pores
were formed on the surface of fibers in this humid ambient [30].
Furthermore, in this study, cell proliferation on the
porous and nonporous microfibrous scaffolds was investi-
gated to achieve knowledge of designing an ideal tissue engin-
eering scaffold. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
report that investigates the effect of the presence of nano-
pores on the surface of PCL microfibers on cell adhesion
and proliferation. MTS results showed that both Vero cells
and MSCs have higher proliferation and adhesion on
high porous microfibrous scaffolds than that on low and
non-porous microfibrous scaffolds. However, the difference
between proliferation of Vero cells and MSCs compared to
TCP was observed (Figures 5 and 6), which is not as surpris-
ing as previous studies which also showed the different beha-
vior of Vero cells and MSCs on the same substrate compared
to TCP. This difference might be due to inherent differences
between cells, such as protein adsorption, receptor density,
focal contact structure and differences in cytoskeleton [41].
It also seemed that Vero cells preferred the rough surface
of the nanoporous microfibrous scaffold in comparison to
the smoother surface of the TCP, whereas for MSCs, the
surface properties of scaffolds may not remarkably influence
their proliferation. SEM images also clearly showed more
cells spreading on nanoporous fibers than that on nonporous
microfibrous scaffolds. Higher proliferation and further
spreading of cells on the porous microfibers might be due
to an increase of surface area of porous fibers compared to
nonporous fibers, which provide extra anchorage points for
the cells to attach and increase protein adsorption that play
an important role in cell attachment [18]. Leong et al. also
reported the effects of nanopores on the surface of electro-
spun PLA microfibers in the attachment of porcine esopha-
geal epithelial cells and amount of protein adsorption. They
formed nanopores on PLA fibers by combining the phase
separation and electrospinning methods and their results
showed the enhancement of cell proliferation on nanoporous
63
microfibrous scaffold compared to smooth fibers without
pores on the surface [18].
In addition, Pant et al. investigated the effect of
micropores on the surface of electrospun PCL microfibrous
scaffolds on the proliferation of Osteoblast cells and their
results revealed that porous fibrous scaffolds promote cell
proliferation and attachment [19].
By combining our results with their results, new opportu-
nities for further investigations into the use of porous nano-=
microfibrous scaffolds can be opened for tissue engineering.
Further study is required to fully explain the mechanisms
and methods for utilizing porous nano-=microfibers from
different polymers used in tissue engineering.
5. Conclusion
PCL microfibrous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospin-
ning and induced nanopores onto the surface of electrospun
fibers by using highly volatile solvent in a humid ambient.
The results reported in this study demonstrated that the
presence of pores on the surface of fibers depends on several
factors such as polymer–solvent combination and ambient
conditions. It was found that the rise of RH at a constant
temperature (25
2 C) increases the number of pores
formed on the surface of fibers up to 60%. Electrospinning
parameters were also found to be effective in the creation
of pores on the surface of microfibers. Moreover, in vitro
cell culture studies showed that nanopores on the surface
of microfibrous scaffolds promote the proliferation and
attachment of Vero cells and MSCs. All these results provide
proof that nanoporous PCL microfibrous scaffolds provide
appropriate substrates for tissue engineering rather than
non-porous PCL microfibers. However, further investigation
should be developed to improve the other properties of
these porous fibrous scaffolds.
Acknowledgment
This project was supported by the Royan Institute
and Textile Department of the Amir Kabir University
of Technology.
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