Fereshte Ghafari - Department of Tissue Engineering,Faculty of Basic Sciences and Advanced Medical Technologies, Royan Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Saeed Karbasi - Department of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, School of Advance Technology in Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Mohamadreza Baghaban Eslaminejad - Department of Stem Cells and Departmental Biology , Cell Science Research Center , Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology ,ACECR,Tehran,Iran

Electrospun nanofiber scaffolds have a similar structure to ECM, leading to increased cell adhesion, proliferation, and migration. In this study, ۱-۵ wt. % of alumina nanowires were added to Polyhydroxybutyrate-Keratin (PHB-K) solution, and the morphology of the electrospun scaffolds in terms of fiber diameter, porosity percentage, and the uniformity of the alumina nanowires distribution was evaluated by SEM. FTIR and Raman tests werealso used to evaluate the chemical bonds of nanofibers and the presence of alumina and keratin in electrospun scaffolds. The crystallinity of the scaffoldswas also measured using DSC and confirmed by XRD. The increase of alumina augmented the crystallinity of scaffoldsbecause alumina is a nucleating agent. The tensile strength of PHB-K scaffolds increased up to ۳ fold in the presence of ۳ %wt of alumina.The MG۶۳ cells survived, and the secretion of alkaline phosphatase and mineralization due to the presence of alumina was significantly higher than PHB and PHB-K scaffolds. Based on the results, the electrospun PHB-K/AL۲O۳scaffolds are potential candidates for bone tissue engineering.

Electrospinning, Poly-hydroxybutyrate, keratin, Alumina nanowire.