Physical–Chemical Crosslinked Electrospun Colocasia esculenta Tuber Protein–Chitosan–Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Nanofibers with Antibacterial Activity and Cytocompatibility

BACKGROUND: Electrospun nanofibers based on Colocasia esculenta tuber (CET) protein are considered as a promising material for wound dressing applications. However, the use of these nanofibers in aqueous conditions has poor stability. The present study was performed to obtain insights into the crosslinked electrospun CET’s protein–chitosan (CS)–poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibers and to evaluate their potential for wound dressing applications. METHODS: The electrospun nanofibers were crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) vapor and heat treatment (HT) to enhance their physicochemical stability. The crosslinked nanofibers were characterized by protein profiles, morphology structures, thermal behavior, mechanical properties, and degradation behavior. Furthermore, the antibacterial properties and cytocompatibility were analyzed by antibacterial assessment and cell proliferation. RESULTS: The protein profiles of the electrospun CET’s protein–CS–PEO nanofibers before and after HT crosslinking contained one major bioactive protein with a molecular weight of 14.4 kDa. Scanning electron microscopy images of the crosslinked nanofibers indicated preservation of the structure after immersion in phosphate buffered saline. The crosslinked nanofibers resulted in higher ultimate tensile strength and lower ultimate strain compared to the non-crosslinked nanofibers. GA vapor crosslinking showed higher water stability compared to HT crosslinking. The in vitro antibacterial activity of the crosslinked nanofibers showed a stronger bacteriostatic effect on Staphylococcus aureus than on Escherichia coli. Human skin fibroblast cell proliferation on crosslinked GA vapor and HT nanofibers with 1% (w/v) CS and 2% (w/v) CET’s protein demonstrated the highest among all the other crosslinked nanofibers after seven days of cell culture. Cell proliferation and cell morphology results revealed that introducing higher CET’s protein concentration on crosslinked nanofibers could increase cell proliferation of the crosslinked nanofibers. CONCLUSION: These results are promising for the potential use of the crosslinked electrospun CET’s protein–CS–PEO nanofibers as bioactive wound dressing materials.