Characterization of electrospun fibrous scaffold produced from Indian eri silk fibroin

A scaffold, synthesized from bio-degradable polymers and Bombyx mori silk fibroin in the form of films and fibrous assemblies, has been used as the bio-material for in-vivo applications. In the present work, the scaffold was prepared from the fibroin of Indian en silk via the electrospinning method. The diameter of the fibre produced was in the range of 300 to 900 nm. The scaffold was subjected to ethanol treatment to improve its dimensional stability, as there was the problem of curling and shrinking when it was treated with solutions used for the cell culture. The scaffold was characterized for surface, thermal and tensile properties. The dimensional stability of the scaffold improved and the porosity reduced, due to the treatment of the scaffold with ethanol. The average failure stress of the raw and ethanol treated scaffold was 2.34 MPa and 4.91 MPa respectively and the mean strain was 13.63 % and 7.91 % respectively. Bone marrow stromal cells were isolated from the bone marrow of Swiss albino mice, and cultured on the ethanol treated electrospun fibrous scaffold. Scanning electron microscopy of the culture was carried out to evaluate the attachment and growth of cells on the scaffold at different incubation periods. Mouse bone marrow stromal cells adhered and grew on the electrospun fibrous scaffold prepared from eri silk fibroin, and the cell density increased with increasing incubation periods.