Improvement of Polycaprolactone Nanofibers Topographies: Testing the Influence in Osteoblastic Proliferation.

A polymeric solution of polycaprolactone (PCL) was electrospun using collectors with different topographies, in order to obtain diverse porosities and textures in the nanofiber meshes. SEM micrographs demonstrated that it was possible to identify distinct areas of nanofiber deposition: random and aligned fibers, when a metallic wire net and aluminium tube were used as collectors. Direct contact studies indicate that osteoblastic-like cells (SaOs-2 cell line) maintained their normal phenotype morphology when seeded on the meshes. The cells seem to prefer structures where the fibers are not collapsed independently of the alignment of the nanofibers. The cells integrate with the surrounding fibers and migrate into the inner nanofibrous structure to form a three-dimensional cellular network. The topographies of nanofiber meshes developed in this study constitute promising scaffolds for tissueengineered bone.