title: Porous gelatin hydrogels: 2. In vitro cell interaction study.
abstract: We report on the feasibility of applying porous gelatin hydrogels, prepared by a novel and controlled cryogenic treatment, as cell-interactive scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Despite the large number of publications on gelatin as a biomaterial, a detailed study of screening a limited number of gelatin scaffolds for their interaction with a panel of human cells has, to the best of our knowledge, not yet been published. In the present work, we have evaluated two types of porous gelatin scaffolds that differ in their pore geometry and pore size. Type I hydrogels contained top-to-bottom transverse channels (i.e. cones) with a decreasing diameter from the top (330 microm) to the bottom (20-30 microm). Type II hydrogels contained spherical pores with a diameter of 135 microm. Both types of scaffolds were evaluated by confocal laser scanning microscopy in terms of adhesion, spreading, and proliferation of human cells (endothelial, epithelial, fibroblast, glial, and osteoblast) by visualizing cells using calcein-acetoxy methyl ester as a vital stain. The results indicated that cells attached, spread, and proliferated on both types of hydrogels. In addition, the scaffolds developed can be used for the long-term culturing of human cells.
authors.affiliation: Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials Research Group, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4 Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Peter.Dubruel@UGent.be
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dubruel
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.forename: Sandra Van
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Vlierberghe
authors.forename: Veerle
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cnudde
authors.forename: Patric J S
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schacht
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kirkpatrick
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002477:Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005615:Freezing; D005780:Gelatin; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D016062:Porosity; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D005780:Gelatin