The development of an alginate/polycaprolactone composite scaffold for in situ transfection application

Alginate and polycaprolactone (PCL) were coelectrospun using a dual-jet system to prepare composite nanofibers in defined ratios, and hence both chemical properties and hydrophobicity of scaffolds can be manipulated. These nanofibers were applied in gene immobilization: positively charged polyethyleneimine (PEI)/DNA polyplexes were adsorbed onto anionic alginate fibers, and the higher ratios of alginate resulted in the more immobilized nonviral vectors. Through the incorporation of PCL, biocompatibility of scaffolds was highly improved. Finally, these scaffolds were used for in situ transfection application. Compared to pure alginate fibers, composite fibers not only successfully transferred target genes to adhered cells but also enhanced cell morphology and viability, suggesting that alginate/PCL nanofibers were multifunctional with gene delivery capability and biocompatibility, and the manipulation of their composition can balance and optimize both requirements. To our knowledge, this approach might be the first one using electrostatic interactions to immobilize genes onto nanofibrous scaffolds for in situ transfection application.