Evaluation of the potential of chimeric spidroins/poly(L-lactic-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering.

In this study, a novel type of chimeric spider silk proteins (spidroins) NTW1 - 4 CT was blended with poly(L-lactic-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) to obtain nanofibrous scaffolds via electrospinning. Spidroins are composed of a N-terminal module (NT) from major ampullate spidroins, a C-terminal module (CT) from minor ampullate spidroins and 1-4 repeat modules (W) from aciniform spidroins. Physical characteristics and structures of NTW1 - 4 CT/PLCL (25/75, w/w) blend scaffolds were carried out by scanning electron microscope (SEM), water contact angles measurements, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and tensile mechanical tests. Results showed that blending with spidroins decreased diameters of nanofibers and increased porosity and wettability of scaffolds. Additionally, chimeric spidroins undergone a similar structural transition in electrospinning process as with the formation process of native and artificial spider silks from other spidroins. With amounts of W modules increasing, the tensile strength and elongation of blend scaffolds were also increased. Particularly, NTW4 CT/PLCL (25/75) scaffolds revealed much higher breaking stress than pure PLCL scaffolds. In vitro experiments, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) cultured on NTW4 CT/PLCL (25/75) scaffolds displayed significantly higher activity of proliferation and adhesion than on pure PLCL scaffolds. All results suggested that chimeric spidroins/PLCL, especially NTW4 CT/PLCL (25/75) blend nanofibrous scaffolds had promising potential for vascular tissue engineering.