High-throughput fabrication of silk fibroin/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (SF/HPMC) nanofibrous scaffolds for skin tissue engineering

Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural macromolecule material with good biocompatibility, which can be used to prepare a variety of biological materials. In this study, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) was applied to improve the properties of SF nanofibrous scaffolds (NFS) for skin tissue engineering applications. SF/HPMC NFS with varying weight ratios of SF: HPMC were prepared in batches by a modified free surface electrospinning. The effects of the varying weight ratio of SF: HPMC on the morphology, property and yield of SF/HPMC NFS were investigated. The results revealed that with the increase of HPMC contents, the hydrophilicity of SF/HPMC NFS would be improved, but the yield of that would decrease. Considering its effects on the morphology, property and yield of SF/HPMC NFS, the optimal weight ratio of SF: HPMC was 7:1. And SF/HPMC NFS with the weight ratio of 7:1 (SF/HPMC-7:1 NFS) had good mechanical property, hydrophilicity, porosity, swelling property and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR). In addition, the viability test results of human umbilical vein endothelial cells demonstrated that SF/HPMC-7:1 NFS maintained excellent biocompatibility for cell adhesion and proliferation.