Fabrication of nanofibrous scaffold using a PLA and hagfish thread keratin composite; its effect on cell adherence, growth, and osteoblast differentiation

Electrospinning is a useful method for the production of nanofibrous scaffolds in the field of tissue engineering. Keratin has been used as a biomaterial for electrospinning and can be used in a variety of biomedical applications because it is a natural protein, giving it the ability to improve cell affinity of scaffolds. In this study, keratin was extracted from hagfish slime thread (H-keratin) and blended with polylactic acid (PLA) polymer solution to construct a nanofibrous scaffold. Wool keratin (W-keratin) was used as a control for the comparison of morphological, physical, and biological properties. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed the presence of both W-keratin and H-keratin in the electrospun PLA/keratin. Observations with a scanning electron microscope revealed that PLA, PLA/W-keratin, and PLA/H-keratin had similar average diameters (∼800 nm). Cell attachment experiments showed that MG-63 cells adhered more rapidly and spread better onto PLA/H-keratin than onto the pure PLA or PLA/W-keratin. Cell proliferation assay, DNA content, live/dead, and alkaline phosphatase activity assays showed that PLA/H-keratin scaffolds could accelerate the viability, proliferation, and osteogenesis of MG-63 cells relative to pure PLA or PLA/W-keratin nanofibrous scaffolds. These findings suggest that H-keratin can improve cellular attraction and has great potential to be used as a biomaterial in bone tissue engineering. (paper)