Preliminary study on the electrospun PLA–based nanofibres as biomaterials for the treatment of cartilage

Electrospinning is a simple and universal way to produce fibres from a variety of materials having diameters ranging from submicrometers to nanometers. Such fibres can be formed from resorbable and non-resorbable polymers, ceramics and their different combinations containing nanoparticles. Such a method has gained a great interest in medicine due to its ability to form a fibrous space architecture, similar to the natural extracellular matrix [1,2]. On the other hand, due to a wide range of technical facilities of electrospun fibers the method allows to create directionally-dependent space architecture of nanofibres which mimic natural tissues [3]. Considering the similarities between the microstructure created by nanofibres and the extracellular matrix, nanofibrous materials made by ES technique seem to be promising scaffolds to regenerate cartilage [4] and neural tissue [5]. A material which is used for cartilage scaffolds should mimic native cartilage, which is known to have an oriented structure associated with its mechanical and physiological functions [5]. Scaffold with a biomimetic-oriented architecture is an important requirement for tissue-engineered cartilage. In this study, PLA oriented and non-oriented fibrous scaffolds were manufactured. Selected properties of the materials were analysed and dissussed in view of the manufacture of optimal structure for cartilage tissue engineering.