Towards skin tissue engineering using poly(2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate)-co-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-poly(ε-caprolactone) hydrophilic terpolymers

Poly(2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate)-co-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PHEMA-co-PNIPAAm-co-PCL) terpolymers and polyaniline (PANI) were applied to develop hydrophilic, conductive, and biocompatible fibroblast scaffolds. Reversible addition of fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) and ring opening polymerizations were the synthesis methods. PHEMA and PNIPAAm segments reflected hydrophilicity and biocompatibility, PCL led to appropriate mechanical characteristics, and presence of PANI induced conductivity to scaffolds. Scaffolds imitated natural microenvironment of extra cellular matrix (ECM) to regulate cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation for electrical conductivity (0.04 S cm−1) and hydrophilicity (50 ± 5°). In vitro cytocompatibility investigations performed over 168 h indicated that nanofibers were non-toxic to mouse fibroblast L929 cells.