Comparison of preparation and characterization of water-bath collected porous poly L –lactide microfibers and cellulose/silk fibroin based poly L-lactide nanofibers for biomedical applications

The hydrophobic nature of Poly L–Lactide (PLLA) limits its application in tissue engineering and drug delivery. In the present study, three methods were used to modify the hydrophobic properties of PLLA. In one method, hydrophilic PLLA fibers with open porous structure were produced by electrospinning method using water bath collector. In the second method, PLLA was made hydrophilic by the addition of hydrophilic polymers such as cellulose acetate (CA) and in the third method PLLA was blended with hydrophilic silk fibroin (SF) from Bombyx mori silk. The surface morphology of the electrospun PLLA based fibers was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The pore size distribution and average fiber diameter of the PLLA based fibrous scaffolds were studied by capillary flow porometry. The contact angle measurements and water uptake test showed remarkable increase in hydrophilicity of the prepared PLLA based fibrous scaffolds. The herbal rich anti-tumor properties of turmeric in the form of curcumin were incorporated into PLLA based scaffolds and the presence of curcumin was identified by FT-Raman. The biocompatibility and anti-cancer activity of the PLLA based scaffolds and curcumin loaded PLLA based scaffolds were studied using mouse embryonic fibroblasts (NIH 3 T3) and human breast cancer (MCF 7) cell lines over a period of 24, 48 and 72 h by {3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium} (MTT) assay. These results confirmed the prepared electrospun fibrous scaffolds as a promising carrier for biomedical applications.