Scaffolds for drug delivery, part I: electrospun porous poly(lactic acid) and poly(lactic acid)/poly(ethylene oxide) hybrid scaffolds

This is the first in a series of papers, focused on the development of a biodegradable, controlled, and potentially targeted drug delivery system. In this paper, we describe the production of highly porous biodegradable fibrous structures suitable for biomedical applications and as a matrix for drug delivery. Two structures are described below. The first structure is composed of electrospun poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers and is unique due to (1) the uniformity if its constitute fibers’ diameter, (2) consistent surface pore dimensions of each fiber, (3) the use of only a single solvent, (4) interior nano-size porosity throughout each individual fiber, and (5) the independency of surface pore dimensions on fiber diameter. The produced matrix will be further impregnated with cargo loaded nanoparticles—Red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV)—to achieve a controlled drug delivery system (described in Part III) for cancer treatments. Such a structure can also be used as tissue engineering scaffolds and filter media. The second electrospun structure has enhanced hydrophilicity compared to PLA matrix and is formed by blending poly(lactic acid)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymers. The incorporation of PEO in the matrix introduces preferable sites for aqueous compounds to be attached to while retaining the overall structural integrity and porous morphology. It is hypothesized that the existence of alternative hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments in the structure may reduce post-implantation complications such as platelet adhesion.