Surface modification of electrospun poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanofibers for the development of <i>in vitro</i> respiratory epithelium model

Scaffold design is an important aspect of <i>in vitro</i> model development. In this study, nanoscaffold surface modification, namely UV radiation and genipin cross-linking to immobilize collagen on the surface of electrospun poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanofiber sheet was investigated. Samples were divided into four groups; PMMA nanofibers (PMMA), collagen-coated PMMA nanofibers (PMMACOL), genipin cross-linked collagen-coated PMMA nanofibers (PMMAGEN), and UV-irradiated collagen-coated PMMA nanofibers (PMMAUV). 6 h of UV radiation significantly reduced the hydrophobicity of PMMA nanofibers from (131.88° ± 1.33°) to (110.04° ± 0.27°) (<i>p</i> p 4 ± 2.77 × 10⁴ cells/cm²) and it has the highest proliferation rate from day 4 to 9 (0.005 ± 0.003 h⁻¹) compared to the other groups. Even though PMMAGEN group showed the highest collagen adsorption, in terms of cells attachment and proliferation, PMMAUV group showed a better outcome compared to the other groups. Thus, PMMAUV scaffold is more suitable to be used in the construction of <i>in vitro</i> respiratory epithelial model.