Chitosan–alginate as scaffolding material for cartilage tissue engineering

✍ Scribed by Zhensheng Li; Miqin Zhang

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 453 KB
• Volume: 75A
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1549-3296
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.30449

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Tissue compatibility of chitosan–alginate scaffolds was studied in vitro in terms of cell morphology, proliferation, and functionality using HTB‐94 cells. The scaffold has an interconnected 3D porous structure, and was fabricated by thermally induced phase separation followed by freeze drying. Cell proliferation on the chitosan–alginate scaffold was found to be faster than on a pure chitosan scaffold. After cell culture for 2 weeks in vitro, the cells on the chitosan scaffold gradually assumed a fibroblast‐like morphology while the cells on the chitosan–alginate scaffold retained their spherical morphology throughout the period of study. SDS‐PAGE electrophoresis and Western blot assays for proteins extracted from cells grown on scaffolds indicated that production of cartilage‐specific collagen type II, a marker for chondrocytic phenotype, increased from week 2 to week 3 on the chitosan–alginate scaffold but decreased on the chitosan scaffold. This study suggested that chitosan–alginate scaffolds promote cell proliferation, enhance phenotype expression of HTB‐94 chondrocytes, and may potentially serve as an improved alternative to chitosan scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2005