Dual Syringe Electrospinning of FNfds-modified Hyaluronic Acid

We described the fabrication of a unique HA nanofibrous scaffold using dual syringe reactive electrospinning. 3$^{'}$-dithiobis(propanoic dihydrazide)-modified HA (HA-DTPH) and Poly (ethylene glycol)-diacrylate (PEGDA) were selected as the cross-linking system. PEO was blended with HA-DTPH to facilitate the fiber formation. Fibronectin functional domains (FNfds) were incorporated with PEGDA and covalently linked to HA via conjugate addition to improve the cell attachment. The as-spun scaffold was soaked into DI water to remove PEO and yield an FNfds-modified HA-DTPH nanofibrous scaffold. Human dermal fibroblasts CF31 were seeded on FNfds-modified HA-DTPH scaffolds. The CF31 fibroblasts showed a unique extended dendritic morphology which is opposed to the typical flattened morphology of cells on regular 2D geometries. Supported by NSF-MRSEC.