A sandwich tubular scaffold derived from chitosan for blood vessel tissue engineering.
Many materials have been investigated in blood vessel tissue engineering, such as PGA, PLGA, P4HB. However, chitosan is not mentioned in the arena. This study aimed to develop a chitosan-based tubular scaffold and examine its feasibility of being applied in this field. Briefly, a knitted chitosan tube was dipped into chitosan solution (2%, w/v) and dried, then its inner and outer surface was mantled with a layer of chitosan/gelatin (4:1, w/w) complex solution, and then freeze-dehydrated. In vitro characterization showed that the scaffold had a wall of 1.0 mm in thickness with a sandwich structure, and a porosity of 81.2%. The pore diameter was 50-150 microm and could be regulated by varying freezing conditions. The scaffold possessed proper swelling property, burst strength of almost 4000 mmHg, and high suture-retention strength. After degradation for 2 months, the scaffold could maintain enough mechanical strength with an average mass loss of 18.7%. Vascular smooth muscle cells could spread and grow very well on the scaffold. This study provided a novel method to fabricate chitosan and its complex into a tubular scaffold and demonstrated the feasibility of the scaffold employed in the field of blood vessel tissue engineering.
Zhang
Ling
L
State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Ao
Qiang
Q
Wang
Aijun
A
Lu
Guangyuan
G
Kong
Lijun
L
Gong
Yandao
Y
Zhao
Nanming
N
Zhang
Xiufang
X
D000818:Animals; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry*; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration; D008422:Materials Testing; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D016062:Porosity; D011817:Rabbits; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013499:Surface Properties; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D019737:Transplants
D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D048271:Chitosan