Recent evolutions in the field of biomaterials have focused on developing materials that can facilely interface with biological systems to treat or replace tissues of the body. Natural polymers, including polysaccharides, have been investigated as suitable biomaterials to mimic the environment of body tissues & facilitate tissue regeneration. Electrospinning natural polymers yields nanofibers that have shown promise as tissue scaffolds & drug delivery vehicles. However, little research has been published on the controlled delivery of drugs from natural polymer fibrous dressings. The long term goal of this lab is to generate a better understanding of natural polymer-based wound healing materials and their small molecule release profiles towards their implementation in wound healing treatments. This research has taken a multi pronged approach regarding the investigation of natural polymer based fibers. One component focuses on the development of novel alginate based, degradable nanofibers. We have modified the alginate backbone to increase the polymer degradation rate as well as the drug release rate of the modified alginate scaffolds. Another facet focuses on the preparation of drug loaded, alginate and chitosan based fibers via electrospinning and the exploration of the release profiles of these scaffolds. Specifically, additives have been electrospun with natural polymers to yield nanofibrous scaffolds. A third part investigates alginate and chitosan drug bioconjugates. The hydrolytic release profiles of these novel innately therapeutic materials are being studied as well as the electrospinability of these materials. Studies from all approaches will lead to improved understanding of alginate and chitosan based materials for biomedical applications, especially in the field of modern wound dressings.

Natural polymer-based electrospun fibers for use in biomedical applications

256th National Meeting (2018)

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