A simple and effective method for making multipotent/multilineage scaffolds with hydrophilic nature without any postmodification/treatment

Abstract A number of biodegradable and bioresorbable materials, as well as scaffold designs, have been experimentally and/or clinically studied for tissue engineering of diverse tissue types. Cell-material responses are strongly dependent on the properties of the scaffold material. In this study, scaffolds based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and PCL blended with a triblock copolymer, Polycaprolactone–polytetrahydrofuran–polycaprolactone (PCL–PTHF–PCL) at different ratios were fabricated by electrospinning. Blending and electrospinning of the triblock copolymer with PCL generated a super hydrophilic scaffold, the mechanical and biological properties of which varied with the concentration of the triblock copolymer. The hydrophilicity of the electrospun scaffolds was determined by measurement of water–air contact angle. Cellular response to the electrospun scaffolds was studied by seeding two types of cells, L929 fibroblast cell line and rat mesenchymal stem cells (RMSC). We observed that the super hydrophilicity of the material did not prevent cell adhesion, while the cell proliferation was low or negligible for scaffolds containing higher amount of PCL–PTHF–PCL. Chondrogenic differentiation of RMSC was found to be better on the PCL blend containing 10% (w/v) of PCL–PTHF–PCL than the bare PCL. Our studies indicate that the cellular response is dependent on the biomaterial composition and highlight the importance of tailoring the scaffold properties for applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.