Electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone)-based skin substitutes: In vivo evaluation of wound healing and the mechanism of cell proliferation

In the present study, we have fabricated electrospun poly(c-caprolactone)-based membranes, characterized and studied the in vivo cell migration and proliferation and wound healing activity. Moreover, we did not seed any cells prior to the animal implantation and we could observe excellent fibroblast attachment and cell proliferation. Further full thickness excision wound on guinea pig completely healed within 35 days. We could reach in an assumption that the enhanced cell proliferation and wound healing might be due to the surface degradation of the polymer under physiologi- cal conditions and the formation of functional groups like hydroxyl and carboxyl groups that promoted cell proliferation in a cell adhesion protein mediated mechanism. This study is a novel tissue engineering concept for the reconstruction of a damaged tissue without the in vitro cell seeding and proliferation prior to the in vivo implantation. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 103B: 1445-1454, 2015.