Abstract
Oriented composite nanofibers consisting of porous silicon nanoparticles (pSiNPs) embedded in a polycaprolactone or poly(lactide-co-glycolide) matrix are prepared by spray nebulization from chloroform solutions using an airbrush. The nanofibers can be oriented by an appropriate positioning of the airbrush nozzle, and they can direct growth of neurites from rat dorsal root ganglion neurons. When loaded with the model protein lysozyme, the pSiNPs allow the generation of nanofiber scaffolds that carry and deliver the protein under physiologic conditions (phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), at 37 °C) for up to 60 d, retaining 75% of the enzymatic activity over this time period. The mass loading of protein in the pSiNPs is 36%, and in the resulting polymer/pSiNP scaffolds it is 3.6%. The use of pSiNPs that display intrinsic photoluminescence (from the quantum-confined Si nanostructure) allows the polymer/pSiNP composites to be definitively identified and tracked by time-gated photoluminescence imaging. The remarkable ability of the pSiNPs to protect the protein payload from denaturation, both during processing and for the duration of the long-term aqueous release study, establishes a model for the generation of biodegradable nanofiber scaffolds that can load and deliver sensitive biologics.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1706785 |
Journal | Advanced Materials |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 22 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Funding
J.M.Z. and T.K. contributed equally to this work. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, under Grant no. CBET-1603177 (MJS) and by the National Institutes of Health, under Grant no. NINDS-RO1-NS089791 (NJA). J.K. acknowledges financial support from the UCSD Frontiers of Innovation Scholars Program (FISP) fellowship.
Funders | Funder number |
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National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | CBET-1603177 |
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) | |
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council | R01NS089791 |
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council | |
University of California San Diego Health |
Keywords
- airbrush
- cell guidance
- controlled release drug delivery
- polycaprolactone
- protein therapeutics
- time-gated photoluminescence imaging
- tissue engineering
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering