Fabrication and characterization of vitamin B5 loaded poly (L-lactide-co-caprolactone)/silk fiber aligned electrospun nanofibers for schwann cell proliferation

Bioengineering strategies for peripheral nerve regeneration have been focusing on the development of alternative treatments for nerve repair. In present study we have blended the Vitamin B5 (50 mg) with 8% P(LLA-CL) and P(LLA-CL)/SF solutions and produced aligned electrospun nanofiber mashes and characterized the material for its physiochemical and mechanical characteristics. The vitamin loaded composites nanofibers showed tensile strength of 8.73 +/- 1.38 and 8.4 +/- 1.37 in P(LLA-CL)/Vt and P(LLA-CL)/SF/Vt nanofibers mashes, respectively. By the addition of vitamin B5 the P(LLA-CL) nanofibers become hydrophilic and the contact angle decreased from 96 degrees to 0 degrees in 6 min of duration. The effect of vitamin B5 on Schwann cells proliferation and viability were analyzed by using MTT assay and the number of cells cultured on vitamin loaded nanofiber mashes was significantly higher than the without vitamin loaded nanofiber samples after 5th day (p<0.05) whereas, P (LLA-CL)/SF/Vt exhibit the consistently highest cell numbers after 7th days culture as compare to P (LLA-CL)/Vt. The in vitro vitamin release behavior was observed in PBS solution and released vitamin was calculated by revers phase HPLC method. The sustain release behavior of vitamin B5 were noted higher in P(LLA-CL)/Vt (80%) nanofibers as compared to P (LLA-CL)/SF/Vt (62%) nanofibers after 24 h. The present work provided a basis for further studies of this novel aligned nanofibrous material in nerve tissue repair or regeneration. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.