Gas Foaming Of Electrospun Poly(L-Lactide-Co-Caprolactone)/Silk Fibroin Nanofiber Scaffolds To Promote Cellular Infiltration And Tissue Regeneration

Electrospun nanofibers emulate extracellular matrix (ECM) morphology and architecture; however, small pore size and tightly-packed fibers impede their translation in tissue engineering. Here we exploited in situ gas foaming to afford three-dimensional (3D) poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone)/silk fibroin (PLCL/SF) scaffolds, which exhibited nanotopographic cues and a multilayered structure. The addition of SF improved the hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of 3D PLCL scaffolds. Three-dimensional scaffolds exhibited larger pore size (38.75 +/- 9.78 mu m(2)) and high porosity (87.1% +/- 1.5%) than that of their 2D counterparts. 3D scaffolds also improved the deposition of ECM components and neo-vessel regeneration as well as exhibited more numbers of CD163(+)/CCR7(+) cells after 2 weeks implantation in a subcutaneous model. Collectively, 3D PLCL/SF scaffolds have broad implications for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering applications.