Fabrication of Photo-crosslinked Chitosan- Gelatin Scaffold in Sodium Alginate Hydrogel for Chondrocyte Culture

Issue title: Frontiers in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology – Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, 11–13 October 2013, Wuhan, China

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zhao, Peng^{; ;} | Deng, Cuijun^; | Xu, Hongzhen | Tang, Xing | He, Hailong | Lin, Chao^; | Su, Jiansheng^;

Affiliations: The Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Nanoscience, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, P.R. China | Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Science and Translational Medicine, School of Stomatology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, P.R. China | Department of Orthopedics, Changzheng Hospital of Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003, P.R. China

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: zp@tongji.edu.cn (PZ), chaolin@tongji.edu.cn (CL), sjs@tongji.edu.cn (JS)

Note: [] The two authors contribute equally as co-first author. Tel.: +86 21 6598 8029; Fax: +86 21 6598 3706-0.

Note: [] The two authors contribute equally as co-first author. Tel.: +86 21 6598 8029; Fax: +86 21 6598 3706-0.

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: zp@tongji.edu.cn (PZ), chaolin@tongji.edu.cn (CL), sjs@tongji.edu.cn (JS)

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: zp@tongji.edu.cn (PZ), chaolin@tongji.edu.cn (CL), sjs@tongji.edu.cn (JS)

Abstract: Photo-crosslinked chitosan-gelatin scaffolds were fabricated and applied for chondrocyte culture in vitro. Photocurable methacryloyl chitosan was synthesized and characterized by FTIR and 1H NMR, respectively. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the chitosan-gelatin scaffold treated with or without EDC as crosslinking agent were analyzed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), compression and viscoelastic measurement. It is demonstrated that EDC-treated chitosan-gelatin scaffold possesses better porous structure and improved mechanical properties. Photo-crosslinked chitosan-gelatin scaffold could be further integrated in sodium alginate hydrogel using calcium chloride to support proliferation of chondrocytes for over 21 days and maintain spherical phenotype, as evaluated by AlamarBlue assay and SEM, respectively, implying that the chitosan-gelatin-hydrogel system exhibits great cyto-biocompatibility. Results of this study show that photo-crosslinked chitosan-gelatin scaffold in sodium alginate hydrogel is suited as a scaffold candidate for cartilage tissue engineering.

Keywords: chitosan, gelatin, chondrocyte, hydrogel, cartilage tissue engineering

DOI: 10.3233/BME-130851

Journal: Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 633-641, 2014