Electrospinning of aniline pentamer-graft-gelatin/PLLA nanofibers for bone tissue engineering

Blends of aniline pentamer-graft-gelatin (AP-g-GA) and poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) were electrospun to prepare uniform nanofibers as biomimetic scaffolds. The nanofibers exhibited good electroactivity, thermal stability and biodegradability. The biocompatibility of the nanofibers in vitro was evaluated by the adhesion and proliferation of mouse preosteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. The cellular elongation was significantly greater on electroactive AP-g-GA/PLLA nanofibers than on PLLA nanofibers. Moreover, the AP-g-GA/PLLA nanofibers stimulated by an electrical pulsed signal could promote the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells compared with pure PLLA nanofibers. Our results demonstrated that the biodegradable and electroactive AP-g-GA/PLLA nanofibers had potential application in vivo as bone repair scaffold materials in tissue engineering.