Fabrication of Bilayered Silk Fiber based Electrospun Scaffolds for Dura Mater Regeneration

Abstract

Dural defects arise due to tumor invasion, cerebrovascular disease, neurosurgery and traumatic brain injury, ultimately causing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, resulting in serious complications such as meningitis, epilepsy, brain swelling, cerebral hernia, intercranial infections, seizures and pesudomeningocele. Different approaches like sutures, sealants, and hydrogels have been employed for dural repair but they have limitations of causing incomplete dural closure, disease transmission, limited resources, immune rejection, inflammation etc. To address these challenges, there is a call to develop an ideal scaffold that should be biocompatible, biodegradable, non-immunogenic, and provide suitable mechanical strength. In this study, a trilayered composite scaffold comprising of silk fibroin (SF), bioactive glass (BG), polyurethane (PU), and oregano essential oil (OEO) was fabricated through electrospinning. The prepared scaffold was characterized by employing various techniques. FTIR was used for confirmation of polymeric functional groups in the scaffold. Evaluated hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, swelling, porosity and density of the trilayered scaffold were in optimal range that hold promise for future clinical applications, facilitating cell proliferation and promoting cell attachment to host tissues. SEM was utilized to check the morphology and fiber alignment of scaffold, showing that composite scaffold mimics the actual structure of dura mater. Excellent antibacterial activity was observed against E.coli with maximum % inhibition growth of 80% showing the bacterial resistance of the composite scaffold. In vitro studies manifested that the composite scaffold demonstrated a favorable degradation rate matching the regeneration period of dura mater. From all the results, it can be concluded that this dural substitute will be an encouraging biomaterial for dural regeneration as it has the ability to prevent cerebrospinal fluid leakage and support cell attachment.