Fabrication and characterization of SrAl2O4: Eu2+Dy3+/CS-PCL electrospun nanocomposite scaffold for retinal tissue regeneration

Millions of people around the world become blind due to losing a part of the retina cells. In tissue engineering field one way to address this issue is to develop a retina tissue by scaffolds based on structure and signals received These scaffolds can play an essential role in repair and reformation of the damaged retina tissue. Here, SrAl2O4: Eu2+, Dy3+ nanophosphor were prepared by sol-gel method and then coated with PEG to become biocompatible. Next 10%, 30% and 50% concentration of the coated nanophosphors were dispersed in CS-PCL copolymer and electrospuned to form SrAl2O4: Eu2+, Dy3+/CS-PCL scaffolds. The aforementioned photo –luminescence-scaffolds were studied for their optical, mechanical and morphological characteristics finally the effect of these scaffolds on the mice RPCs cells' proliferation and differentiation was observed. The 30% nanophosphor dispersion scaffold while providing adequate mechanical flexibility and integrity, and exhibiting superior proliferation rates and acceptable differentiation into retinal neural cells (particularly photo receptors retinal) is suggested as a promising choice in retinal tissue repair. [Display omitted] •The 30% nanophosphor dispersion scaffold for both shorter wavelength and middle intense emission is more near to biocompatible nanophosphors.•30% dispersed nanophosphor scaffold displays satisfactory mechanical strength and flexibility where its behavior is similar to the retina tissue.•Besides as the most effective signal in this study is the electromagnetic signals emitted by nanophosphors, we attribute the enhanced proliferation to the positive effects of the later, the emitted signals of scaffolds.•The tendency towards spherical morphology implies that emitting light may stimulate the cell signaling toward differentiation•These findings implies that mRPC grown on SrAl2O4: Eu2+,Dy3+/CS-PCL scaffolds in differentiation conditions tend to differentiate toward retinal neuronal lineages, most notably, photoreceptor cells.