Development of polyurethane/silk fibroin electrospun nanofibers for neovagina tissue engineering

Introduction In several disorders the medical approach is vaginal reconstruction, such as in congenital abnormalities, injury, or cancer. Reconstructive techniques applying non-vaginal tissues can be associated with more complications. Surgical vaginoplasty for dilatation failure or large defects is recommended. In this regard, the main challenge is the lack of sufficient native tissue for reconstructing the organ. Objectives Our aim is the use of novel tissue engineering techniques to fabricate engineered vaginal organs for these patients. Methods Human vaginal epithelial cells (HVECs) were expanded onto electrospun polyurethane/silk fibroin (PU/SF) blends scaffolds at a density of 1×105 cells/ml. The surface morphology of electrospun scaffolds were observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The toxicity and biocompatibility of each scaffold was assessed by the MTT assay using HVECs. Cells attachment and proliferation on the scaffolds was evaluated by SEM and H&E staining. Results SEM results showed that by increasing the SF proportion, the fibers show lower diameters and higher uniformity. The PU/SF scaffolds significantly promoted epithelial cell attachment and proliferation comparing to PU scaffold alone. However, viability of epithelial cells was greatly promoted by increasing the SF proportion perhaps due to providing an extracellular matrix like structure. Conclusion Results showed that the electrospun PU/SF scaffolds possess proper biocompatibility and ability to promote epithelium regeneration, as a promising means for vaginal tissue engineering

Keywords:

PU/SF scaffolds , Electrospinning , Vaginal epithelial cells , Tissue engineering