Abstract
Myocardial infarction is one the leading cause of death in western countries. Cardiac tissue engineering aims to replace infarcted myocardium, which has limited capability to regenerate by providing healthy functional cells to the injured region via a carrier substrate, and providing mechanical support, thereby preventing ventricular remodelling. The aim of this thesis was the development and characterization of highly porous scaffolds for cardiac tissue regeneration using poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) blended with poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) to improve its cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility. Electrospinning technique was chosen to develop biodegradable cardiac patches. Electrospinning conditions such as polymer concentration, applied voltage and distance from the collector were investigated and optimized. Microstructural analysis revealed that uniform and smooth fibers were obtained for all three fiber mats investigated which include PCL/PHBHHx 100/0, PCL/PHBHHx 70/30 and PCL/PHBHHx 30/70, although, PCL/PHBHHx 30/70 displayed fusion of the fibers junction. Mechanical properties of the developed patches were investigated through stress-strain displacement curves and showed that blending PCL with a flexible polymer like PHBHHx slightly enhanced the mechanical properties of the electrospun PCL/PHBHHx 70/30 fibrous mat proving that the two polymers are compatible although immiscible, as revealed by thermal analysis. In vitro cytocompatibility studies of PCL/PHBHHx fibrous mats demonstrated that the developed scaffolds promote adhesion and proliferation of C2C12 cell.
