In vitro evaluation of gelatin and chitosan electrospun fibers as artificial guide in peripheral nerve repair: a comparative study

Random and aligned gelatin and chitosan nano-fibers have been prepared by electrospinning tuning the collector rotation speed. The effect of fiber alignment on cell adhesion and proliferation was assessed in vitro by using different Schwann cell and neuronal models. Moreover, actin cytoskeleton organization, lamellipodia and filipodia formation and axon outgrowth were evaluated. Gelatin and chitosan fibers induced similar adhesion and proliferation rate. Gelatin and chitosan random fibers promoted higher adhesion and proliferation rate induction in comparisons to the aligned ones. Although, gelatin and chitosan fibers alignment resulted in SC and axon oriented growth. Filipodia formation was higher on aligned fibers, suggesting that these substrates can promote higher cell migration in comparison to random ones. 50B11 (neuronal cell line) differentiation was higher on gelatin fibers, whereas no differences were observed in DRG explants model. These data suggest that both gelatin and chitosan fibers can be promising substrates to be used in peripheral nerve reconstruction.