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ABSTRACT
Tendon is a fibrous connective tissue where the fibres as biophysical cues are key regulators to regenerate injured tendon. However, electrospun fibres are often mechanically insufficient for the tendon application. Here, we reported a method by using rough polymer surface as the reinforcement of fibres to promote surface fibre deposition and integration during electrospinning. Results showed that the addition of polymer surface with open-pore topography significantly improved the deposition of fibres. The as-fabricated fibre topography was found to couple with improved surface hydrophilicity, higher crystallinity, and mechanical properties including both the maximum force and extension upon receiving elastic and plastic deformations. Seeding with TCSs, the fibre topography showed good cell compatibility and could be able to support F-actin cytoskeleton expression with the building of tendon cell interconnection. This work could have insights into the design of mechanically enhanced fibre topography for tendon tissue regeneration.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Author contributions
ZW conceived the original ideas of this manuscript. All authors participated in the experimental work and data analysis. DL, WZ, and HN wrote the manuscript and configured the figures. ZW and HN directed the work.