Traumatic injuries can interrupt muscle contraction by damaging the skeletal muscle and/or the peripheral nerves. The healing process results in scar tissue formation that impedes muscle function. Electrospinning and metal nanoparticles (Nps) can create a scaffold that will trigger muscle cell elongation, orientation, fusion, and striation. Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and gold (Au) Nps were electrospun to create three composite scaffolds, 7% Au-PLLA, 13% Au-PLLA and 21% Au-PLLA, and compared to PLLA alone. The scaffolds had a conductivity of 0.008 +/- 0.003 S/cm for PLLA, 0.053 +/- 0.015 S/cm for 7% Au-PLLA, 0.076 +/- 0.004 S/cm for 13% Au-PLLA and 0.094 +/- 0.037 S/cm for 21% Au-PLLA. Next, a cell study was conducted with rat primary muscle cells and all three Au-PLLA scaffolds. The first cell study showed low cell proliferation on all three of the Au-PLLA scaffolds; however, the second cell study showed that this was not due to Au-Nps toxicity. Instead, low cell proliferation may be a marker for myotube differentiation and fusion. Values for the elastic modulus and yield stress for the Au-PLLA scaffolds on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 were much higher than those for skeletal muscle tissue. Therefore, lower amounts of Au-Nps may be utilized to create a biodegradable, biocompatible and conductive scaffold for skeletal muscle repair. Copyright 10 (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.