Fibrous 3D printed poly(e)caprolactone tissue engineering scaffold for in vitro cell models

One of the most challenging goals of tissue engineering is the search for efficient but simple production methods of 3D cell culture scaffolds. We fabricated novel microfibrous PCL scaffolds using a commercial 3D printer modified with a melt electrospun process. The microfibrous PCL scaffolds featured fibres with width ranging between 10 and 190 mu m in pores between 14 and 570 mu m, and overall thickness ranging from 250 to 2000 mu m, depending on the selected process parameters. The hydrophilicity of the scaffolds was improved by the surface post-treatment using an alkaline treatment with NaOH, reducing the WCA from 124 +/- 4 (unmodified scaffold) to 58 +/- 3 (after 8 min of submersion). The scaffold biocompatibility was further increased by coating of fibre surface with collagen I isolated from bovine. The triple-negative breast cancer human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was chosen as a model cell line for testing cell proliferation by MTT assay. The scaffold successfully supported the cellular growth and viability. The interconnected porosity and an ECM-like Collagen-I covering increased cellular adherence, penetration, and proliferation from the first days after cell seeding. The results demonstrated that such production method of the fibrous PCL scaffold has great potential for scaffold prepa-ration for tissue engineering.