Surface Modification of Electrospun Poly (Methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) Nanofibers for Development of In Vitro Respiratory Epithelium Model

In this study, nanoscaffold surface modification, namely UV-radiation and genipin cross-linking to immobilize collagen on the surface of electrospun Poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) nanofibers sheet was investigated. Samples were divided into 4 groups; PMMA nanofibers (PMMA), collagen-coated PMMA nanofibers (PMMACOL), Genipin-crosslinked-collagen coated PMMA nanofibers (PMMAGEN), and UV-irradiated collagen-coated PMMA nanofibers (PMMAUV). 6 hours of UV radiation significantly reduced the hydrophobicity of PMMA nanofibers from (131.88°±1.33°) to (110.04°±0.27°) (p<0.05).

The amount of collagen immobilized was significantly higher in PMMAGEN group (239.36±16.63 µg collagen/mg nanofibers) (p<0.05) compared to the other groups. RECs on all scaffold expressed epithelial cell specific markers (CK18 and CK14), mucin producing cell marker (MUC5Ac) and were actively proliferating, based on the positive expression of Ki67. Total number of attached cells was significantly highest in PMMAUV group on day 9 (6.44x10 4 ±2.77x10 4 cells/cm 2 ) and it has the highest proliferation rate from day 4 to 9 (0.005±0.003 h -1 ) compared to the other groups.