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A novel bilayer fibrous membrane for guided tissue regeneration (GTR) was prepared via two-step electrospinning process, subsequent crosslinking and surface conjugation with heparin. The bilayer membrane consists of upper layer polycaprolactone/gelatin (PCL/Gel) membrane for soft tissue regeneration and lower layer PCL/Gel/nano-hydroxyapatite (PCL/Gel/n-HA) membrane for hard tissue regeneration. The results indicated that the physicochemical and biological properties of the membrane were strongly influenced by the crosslinking time and by the heparin conjugation. Crosslinking effectively prolonged the degradation time while maintaining the membrane barrier function, and the surface heparin conjugation obviously improved the biological performance of the membrane. An enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation were observed on the heparin-conjugated fibrous membranes, which also showed good histocompatibility and favorable in vivo degradability. The electrospun bilayer fibrous membrane may have promising prospect for modulation of cell response and simultaneous regeneration of soft and hard tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed tourmaline/chitosan (Tur/CS) composite films for wound healing applications. The characteristics of composite films were studied by optical microscope, infrared spectra and X-ray diffraction. Tur particles were uniformly distributed in the CS film and the crystal structure of CS was not remarkably changed except the decrease of crystallinity. The influence of Tur on wound healing applications was characterized by modulating Tur concentrations in the Tur/CS composite film prepared by loading Tur powder into CS matrix with different proportion (0, 1/40 and 1/10). Then L929 cells were co-cultured on the composite films to access the cytotoxicityin vitro. Tur concentrations strongly influenced cell process extension. Tur/CS composite film with 1/40 mass ratio could promote the cell adhesion and proliferation. Fewer and shorter processes were observed at high Tur density. When the composite films were transplanted on porcine full-thickness burn wounds, histological results demonstrated that the Tur/CS group with 1/40 mass ratio had a significantly higher number of newly-formed and mature blood vessels, and fastest regeneration of dermis. Based on the observed facts these films can be tailored for their potential utilization in wound healing and skin tissue engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]