Development of a Gelatin-Based Hydrogel to be Used as a Fibrous Scaffold in Myocardial Tissue Engineering

Myocardial Tissue Engineering (MTE) is a set of techniques that uses biomaterials to reproduce the native extracellular matrix (ECM) of tissues, in this case, the myocardium. The present contribution relates the results of the study about the electrospinning of gelatin, a naturally occurring biopolymer, in view to obtain nanofibrous scaffolds for use in MTE. Gelatin solutions were prepared using gelatin type B and 2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol (TFE) as a solvent. The fibrous were created through electrospinning technique. The voltage, distance and concentration of the solutions were varied to improve the quality of the fibers. The crosslinking method was validated with the use of films, prepared by solvent evaporation technique, with 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC). The morphology of the fibers was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the efficiency of the crosslinking processes were evaluated by swelling test and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The best fibers were formed (without the presence of drops or beads) by electrospinning a gelatin solution in the following parameters (10% (w/v), 10 kV and 20 cm) or (5% (w/v), 12 kV and 12 cm). The crosslinking process was done using EDC in the films of gelatin. It was possible to observe that different degrees of crosslinking guarantee different properties, such as water swelling as well as different thermal and mechanical properties.