title: Preparation and characterization of alginate/gelatin blend films for cardiac tissue engineering.
abstract: The aim of this work was the preparation of blends based on alginate and gelatin, with different weight ratio, to combine the advantages of these two natural polymers for application in cardiac tissue engineering. The physicochemical characterization, performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, revealed a good miscibility and the presence of interactions among the functional groups of pure biopolymers. Concerning the swelling and degradation tests, performed in different solutions simulating body fluids, both swelling degree and weight losses were higher in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and for the blends with a higher content of gelatin. These results indicated a better stability of the blends in cell culture medium than in PBS and suggested a mainly hydrolytic degradation process. Cell culture tests, carried out using C2C12 myoblasts, showed a good cell proliferation for all the blends containing more than 60% of gelatin, with the alginate/gelatin 20:80 showing the best response. The same blend was the only one on which cell differentiation was observed. The results obtained in the biological characterization allow to select the alginate/gelatin 20:80 blend as a suitable material to prepare scaffolds for myocardial tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Industrial Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, Pisa, Italy. elisabetta.rosellini@ing.unipi.it
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rosellini
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cristallini
authors.forename: Niccoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barbani
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vozzi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giusti
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D005780:Gelatin