Fabrication and Characterization of Polylactic Acid/Hyaluronic Acid/Collagen Nanofibers for Tendon Tissue Engineering
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Marmara University, Istanbul 34854, Turkey
- 2Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize 53200, Turkey
- 3Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul 34210, Turkey
- 4Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Arel University, Istanbul 34010, Turkey
- 5Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Marmara University, Istanbul 34854, Turkey
- 6Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Genetic and Metabolic Diseases Research and Investigation Center, Marmara University, Istanbul 34854, Turkey
- 7Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize 53200, Turkey
Abstract
Tendons are highly elastic connective tissues that transfer mechanical loads from muscle to bone, and their healing is often slow and incomplete because of limited vascularization. Tissue engineering approaches are therefore emerging as promising alternatives to support tendon repair. In this study, polylactic acid (PLA)-based nanofibers containing hyaluronic acid (HA) and collagen (COL), intrinsic components of the extracellular matrix, were fabricated by blend and coaxial electrospinning. Matrices of identical overall composition were produced by both configurations, so that the contribution of nanofiber architecture could be isolated from that of chemical composition; the coaxial nanofibers comprised a load-bearing PLA/COL core and a PLA/HA shell, reproducing the collagen-rich tendon proper and the hyaluronic acid-rich gliding surface of native tendon. Mean fiber diameters ranged from 319 ± 82 nm for neat PLA to 854 ± 220 nm for the coaxial nanofibers, approximately twice that of the compositionally identical blend nanofibers (454 ± 110 nm). Tensile strength increased from 2.108 MPa for neat PLA to 4.94 MPa for PLA/COL, and the coaxial nanofibers retained a comparable value (4.651 MPa, p > 0.05) despite the incorporation of HA. In human mesenchymal stem cells, viability was maintained or increased over 7 days on the coaxial scaffolds but declined markedly on the blend scaffolds, indicating that the core–shell architecture is more favorable for tendon tissue regeneration.
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BibTeX
@article{akdag2026fabrication,
title = {{Fabrication and Characterization of Polylactic Acid/Hyaluronic Acid/Collagen Nanofibers for Tendon Tissue Engineering}},
author = {Zekiye Akdag and Cengiz Kazdal and Elif Nur Yildiz and Zehra Kanli and Ridvan Yildirim and Ali Sahin and Fatih Eren and Oguzhan Gunduz},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18202475},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2475},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fabrication and Characterization of Polylactic Acid/Hyaluronic Acid/Collagen Nanofibers for Tendon Tissue Engineering
AU - Zekiye Akdag
AU - Cengiz Kazdal
AU - Elif Nur Yildiz
AU - Zehra Kanli
AU - Ridvan Yildirim
AU - Ali Sahin
AU - Fatih Eren
AU - Oguzhan Gunduz
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18202475
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/20/2475
AB - Tendons are highly elastic connective tissues that transfer mechanical loads from muscle to bone, and their healing is often slow and incomplete because of limited vascularization. Tissue engineering approaches are therefore emerging as promising alternatives to support tendon repair. In this study, polylactic acid (PLA)-based nanofibers containing hyaluronic acid (HA) and collagen (COL), intrinsic components of the extracellular matrix, were fabricated by blend and coaxial electrospinning. Matrices of identical overall composition were produced by both configurations, so that the contribution of nanofiber architecture could be isolated from that of chemical composition; the coaxial nanofibers comprised a load-bearing PLA/COL core and a PLA/HA shell, reproducing the collagen-rich tendon proper and the hyaluronic acid-rich gliding surface of native tendon. Mean fiber diameters ranged from 319 ± 82 nm for neat PLA to 854 ± 220 nm for the coaxial nanofibers, approximately twice that of the compositionally identical blend nanofibers (454 ± 110 nm). Tensile strength increased from 2.108 MPa for neat PLA to 4.94 MPa for PLA/COL, and the coaxial nanofibers retained a comparable value (4.651 MPa, p > 0.05) despite the incorporation of HA. In human mesenchymal stem cells, viability was maintained or increased over 7 days on the coaxial scaffolds but declined markedly on the blend scaffolds, indicating that the core–shell architecture is more favorable for tendon tissue regeneration.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -