Mechanically-enhanced three-dimensional scaffold with anisotropic morphology for tendon regeneration

Tissue engineering has showed promising results in restoring diseased tendon tissue functions. Herein, a hybrid three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffold comprising an outer portion rolled from an electrohydrodynamic jet printed poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) fiber mesh, and an inner portion fabricated from uniaxial stretching of a heat-sealed PCL tube, was developed for tendon tissue engineering (TE) application. The outer portion included three layers of micrometer-scale fibrous bundles (fiber diameter: ~25 µm), with an interconnected spacing and geometric anisotropy along the scaffold length. The inner portion showed orientated micro-ridges/grooves in a parallel direction to that of the outer portion. Owning to the addition of the inner portion, the as-fabricated scaffold exhibited comparable mechanical properties to those of the human patellar tendon in terms of Young’s modulus (~227 MPa) and ultimate tensile stress (~50 MPa). Compared to the rolled electrospun fibers, human tenocytes cultured in the tendon scaffolds showed increased cellular metabolism. Furthermore, the 3D tendon scaffold resulted in up-regulated cell alignment, cell elongation and formation of collagen type I. These results demonstrated the potential of mechanically-enhanced 3D fibrous scaffold for applications in tendon TE, with desired cell alignment and functional differentiation.