from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
The present work deals with preparation and subsequent modification of aligned polycaprolactone microfibers made by new semiautomatic drawing technique. This advanced scaffold for tissue engineering combines 3D architecture, large surface area-to-volume ratio, alterable conductivity which closely imitates native extracellular matrix and actively modulating cell functions. New synthetic approach has been chosen for derivatization of aligned polymer fibers, which lack any surface functional groups for immobilization of biomolecules, grow factors or specific amino acid sequences. To overcome this drawback the thin conductive polypyrrole layer was applied on the polycaprolactone fibers by chemical oxidative polymerization from the solution. Thus, in the one simple synthetic step we can modify original fibers with various functional groups presented in the β-position of the pyrrole. Our future goal is to functionalize microfibrous surface with cyclodextrin units using highly efficient copper free click reaction. Finally we gain an aligned microfibrous scaffold covered by immobilized cyclodextrin macrocycles that allow inclusion of proteins during cell cultivation. These nonbonding interactions are relatively weak but the cumulative effect makes them efficient in the complexation of various neutral or ionic molecules. Moreover better environment for cell adhesion and proliferation is being provided.
Keywords: polycaprolactone, polypyrrole, tissue engineering, drawing, cyclodextrin© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.