Abstract

The determination of potential transplantable substrates and substitution cells for corneal endothelium transplantation may compensate for the shortage of cornea donors. Appropriate biodegradable and biocompatible tissue‑engineered substratum with seed cells for endothelial keratoplasty has been increasingly studied. In the present study, electrospun gelatin/polycaprolactone (PCL) and collagen/PCL scaffolds were successfully established. Bone marrow endothelial progenitor cells (BEPCs) were cultured on these scaffolds to determine whether the scaffolds may promote the proliferation of BEPCs as well as maintain stem cell characteristics. Two variations of hybrid scaffolds, collagen/PCL (70% collagen and 30% PCL) and gelatin/PCL (70% gelatin and 30% PCL), were established via electrospinning. Microscopic structure, hydrophilicity and wettability of the two scaffolds were subsequently investigated. BEPCs were separately cultured on the scaffolds and were also seeded on glass slides to establish the control group. Furthermore, cell morphology; adherence, as determined by investigation of F‑actin expression levels; proliferation, as determined via Cell Counting Kit‑8 assays, Ki‑67 staining and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) staining; and stem cell markers, as determined by cluster of differentiation (CD)‑34 and CD‑133 protein expression levels; were investigated. In addition, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR) was performed to determine gene expression. The two nanofiber scaffolds were established using electrospun techniques with expected hydrophilicity, wettability and biocompatibility. BEPCs were revealed to spread well on and strongly adhere to the collagen/PCL (70:30) and gelatin/PCL (70:30) scaffolds. Furthermore, Ki‑67 and BrdU staining results revealed greater levels of positive dots on the two hybrid scaffolds compared with the control group. CD‑34 and CD‑133 protein staining demonstrated increased levels of fluorescence intensity