��biology is largely the study of fibers�� wrote Joseph Needham in Order and Life in 1936.  Cells, tissues and organs rely on polymeric nanofibers as supporting structures, and thus polymeric fibrous scaffolds have a major role to play in the burgeoning fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.  Also, cell interiors and surfaces are endowed with nanofibers (the cytoskeleton) which play key roles in defining mechanical properties and various important cellular functions.  Toward that end, we employ electrospinning as a method of fabrication of scaffolds for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and more recently the development of nanofiber constructs as models for functional biological systems.   Recent examples include collagen nanofiber fabrication and applications in wound healing, delivery of enzymes for degradation of scar tissue associated with central nervous system damage, and Ca2+-responsive poly(acrylic acid)-based nanofibers as crude models of the cortical gel layer of nerve.

Nanofiber macromolecular constructs: Applications in medicine and linkages to biology

245th National Meeting (2013)

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