title: Reinforcement of a porous collagen scaffold with surface-activated PLA fibers.
abstract: A hybrid porous collagen scaffold mechanically reinforced with surface-activated poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fiber was prepared. PLA fibers, 20 mum in diameter and 1 mm in length, were aminolyzed with hexanediamine to introduce free amino groups on the surfaces. After the amino groups were transferred to aldehyde groups by treatment with glutaraldehyde, different amounts (1.5, 3, 5 and 8 mg) of surface-activated PLA fibers were homogeneously mixed with 2 ml type-I collagen solution (pH 2.8, 0.6 wt%). This mixture solution was then freeze-dried and cross-linked to obtain collagen sponges with surface-activated PLA fiber. Scanning electron microscopy observation indicated that the collagen sponges had a highly interconnected porous structure with an average pore size of 170 mum, irrespective of PLA fiber incorporation. The dispersion of surface-activated PLA fibers was homogeneous in collagen sponge, in contrast to unactivated PLA fibers. The compression modulus test results showed that, compared with unactivated PLA fibers, the surface-activated PLA fibers enhanced the resistance of collagen sponge to compression more significantly. Cytotoxicity assay by MTT test showed no cytotoxicity of these collagen sponges. L929 mouse fibroblast cell-culture studies in vitro revealed that the number of L929 cells attached to the collagen sponge with surface-activated PLA fibers, both 6 h and 24 h after seeding, was higher than that in pure collagen sponge and sponge with unactivated PLA fibers. In addition, a better distribution of cells infiltrated in collagen sponge with surface-activated PLA fibers was observed by histological staining. These results indicated that the collagen sponge reinforced with surface-activated PLA fibers is a promising biocompatible scaffold for tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Changbin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yujiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Zhongwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Xingdong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide); D003094:Collagen