Active loading graphite/hydroxyapatite into the stable hydroxyethyl cellulose scaffold nanofibers for artificial cornea application

Abstract: The design of biocompatible porous scaffolds that encourage cell adhesion for corneal tissue engineering applications continues to be challenging. In addition to porous hydrogels, nanofibers that can simulate the extracellular matrix structure for cell adhesion would be beneficial. Graphite and nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) are two bioactive materials that have been used to improve cell adhesion in scaffolds for corneal tissue engineering. In this study, nanofibers were fabricated from hydroxyethyl cellulose and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and cross-linked by glutaraldehyde bound to graphite and nano-hydroxyapatite. This scaffold surrounded a transparent hydrogel core from PVA that was cross-linked by freeze-thawing cycles. The chemical and mechanical evaluations demonstrated that nanofibers met the requirements as a scaffold for corneal tissue engineering. The results showed that when the concentration of nHA was approximately 1.66 wt%, the morphology of human epithelial cells did not change, and clot formation occurred around the scaffold during the 1-week in vivo implantation. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]