Significance
The clinical challenges in tendon repair have spurred the development of tendon tissue engineering approaches to create functional tissue replacements. In this study, we have developed a novel composite scaffold as a tendon graft consisting of aligned poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) microfibers and methacrylated gelatin (mGLT). Cell seeding and photocrosslinking between scaffold layers can be performed simultaneously to create cell impregnated multilayered constructs. This cell-scaffold construct combines the advantages of PCL nanofibrous scaffolds and photocrosslinked gelatin hydrogels to mimic the structure, mechanical anisotropy, and cell phenotype of native tendon tissue. The scaffold engineered here as a building block for multilayer constructs should have applications beyond tendon tissue engineering in the fabrication of tissue grafts that consist of both fibrous and hydrogel components.
Statement of significance
The clinical challenges in tendon repair have spurred the development of tendon tissue engineering approaches to create functional tissue replacements. In this study, we have developed a novel composite scaffold as a tendon graft consisting of aligned poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) microfibers and methacrylated gelatin (mGLT). Cell seeding and photocrosslinking between scaffold layers can be performed simultaneously to create cell impregnated multilayered constructs. This cell-scaffold construct combines the advantages of PCL nanofibrous scaffolds and photocrosslinked gelatin hydrogels to mimic the structure, mechanical anisotropy, and cell phenotype of native tendon tissue. The scaffold engineered here as a building block for multilayer constructs should have applications beyond tendon tissue engineering in the fabrication of tissue grafts that consist of both fibrous and hydrogel components.