1254 Research Article Received: 27 June 2013 Revised: 16 September 2013 Accepted article published: 8 October 2013 Published online in Wiley Online Library: 5 November 2013 (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/pi.4631 Application of low loading of collagen in electrospun poly[(L-lactide)-co-(ǫ -caprolactone)] nanoﬁbrous scaffolds to promote cellular biocompatibility Donraporn Daranarong, a Boontharika Thapsukhon, a Nico S Wanandy, b Robert Molloy, a,c Winita Punyodom a,c∗ and L John R Foster b∗ Abstract Electrospinning of various polymers has been used to produce nanoﬁbrous scaffolds that mimic the extracellular matrix and support cell attachment for the potential repair and engineering of nerve tissue. In the study reported here, an electrospun copolymer of L-lactide and ǫ -caprolactone (67:33 mol%) resulted in a nanoﬁbrous scaffold with average ﬁbre diameter and pore size of 476 ± 88 and 253 ± 17 nm, respectively. Blending with low loadings of collagen (<2.5% w/w) signiﬁcantly reduced the average diameter and pore size. The uniformity of ﬁbre diameter distributions was supported with increasing collagen loadings. The nanoﬁbrous scaffolds signiﬁcantly promoted the attachment and proliferation of olfactory ensheathing cells compared to cells exhibiting asynchronous growth. Furthermore, analysis of cell health through mitochondrial activity, membrane leakage, cell cycle progression and apoptotic indices showed that the nanoﬁbrous membranes promoted cell vigour, reducing necrosis. The study suggests that the use of more cost-effective, low loadings of collagen supports morphological changes in electrospun poly[(L-lactide)-co-(ǫ -caprolactone)] nanoﬁbrous scaffolds, which also support attachment and proliferation of olfactory ensheathing cells while promoting cell health. The results here support further investigation of the electrospinning of these polymer blends as conduits for nerve repair. c  2013 Society of Chemical Industry Keywords: poly[(L-lactide)-co-(ǫ -caprolactone)]; collagen; olfactory ensheathing cells; electrospinning; nanoﬁbres; cell cycle INTRODUCTION Nerve guides for peripheral nerve repair have a number of advantages over commonly used autografts, particularly in terms of their availability and ease of fabrication. 1 However, the overall performance of these nerve guides is inferior to that of conven- tional nerve grafting which remains the standard procedure. 2 Current synthetic nerve guides fail to adequately promote nerve regeneration across long lesion gaps and this has triggered signiﬁcant interest in the development of alternative designs. 3 With the aim of mimicking the geometry of the extracellular matrix, nanoﬁbrous scaffolds have been reported to support cell attachment and proliferation. 4 Electrospinning has been used to produce nanoﬁbrous scaffolds with high surface area to volume ratios and different pore sizes supporting the growth, proliferation and differentiation of various cell lineages. 5 – 7 Various polymers have been successfully centrifugally spun and electrospun into micro- and nanoﬁbres including polyhydroxybutyrate, poly(lactic acid), poly(glycolic acid) and poly(ǫ -caprolactone) and their copolymers. 8 – 10 Poly[(L-lactide)-co-(ǫ -caprolactone)] (PLCL) is a synthetic, highly elastomeric, biodegradable and non-toxic copolymer of L-lactide and ǫ -caprolactone, and is of interest in tissue engineering where it has the potential to support cardiovascular, cartilage and nerve regeneration. 11 – 13 Similarly, collagen, the most abundant structural protein matrix found in the animal body and the principal structural component of native extracellular matrix, has also been widely used in tissue engineering. Collagen has been investigated as a scaffold for cell growth owing to a wealth of merits such as biological origin, non-immunogenicity, excellent ∗ Correspondence To: Winita Punyodom, Biomedical Polymers Technology Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand. Materials Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand. winitacmu@gmail.com L. John R. Foster, Bio/Polymer Research Group, School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW2052, Australia. J.Foster@unsw.edu.au a Biomedical Polymers Technology Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand b Bio/Polymer Research Group, School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW2052, Australia c Materials Science Research Center, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand Polym Int 2014; 63: 1254–1262 www.soci.org c  2013 Society of Chemical Industry