Heparin conjugated PCL/Gel – PCL/Gel/n-HA bilayer fibrous membrane for potential regeneration of soft and hard tissues

A novel bilayer fibrous membrane for guided tissue regeneration (GTR) was prepared via two-step electrospinning process, subsequent crosslinking and surface conjugation with heparin. The bilayer membrane consists of upper layer polycaprolactone/gelatin (PCL/Gel) membrane for soft tissue regeneration and lower layer PCL/Gel/nano-hydroxyapatite (PCL/Gel/n-HA) membrane for hard tissue regeneration. The results indicated that the physicochemical and biological properties of the membrane were strongly influenced by the crosslinking time and by the heparin conjugation. Crosslinking effectively prolonged the degradation time while maintaining the membrane barrier function, and the surface heparin conjugation obviously improved the biological performance of the membrane. An enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation were observed on the heparin-conjugated fibrous membranes, which also showed good histocompatibility and favorable in vivo degradability. The electrospun bilayer fibrous membrane may have promising prospect for modulation of cell response and simultaneous regeneration of soft and hard tissues.