title: In vitro evaluation of Ficoll-enriched and genipin-stabilised collagen scaffolds.
abstract: Polysaccharides are frequently incorporated into scaffolds for tissue engineering applications to improve mechanical and biological properties. We evaluated the influence of a Ficoll® scaffold on collagen films, a scaffold that is extensively used for soft and hard tissue repair. To avoid cytotoxicity issues associated with chemical reagents, the influence of genipin, a naturally occurring crosslinking agent, was assessed. Ultra-structural level collagen films formed with and without Ficoll showed a fine fibrillar structure whereas genipin crosslinked films showed a coarse fibrillar and partially nodular structure. In contrast, glutaraldehyde crosslinked films lost their fibrillar pattern. Crosslinking significantly increased denaturation temperature (p < 0.001), stress (p < 0.0001) and force (p < 0.0001) at break. Collagen/Ficoll and collagen/Ficoll/genipin films showed the highest WI38 fibroblast attachment than any other scaffold (p < 0.003) and significantly greater WI38 fibroblast metabolic activity than other scaffolds (p < 0.001). By day 6. collagen/Ficoll/genipin films also induced higher and more aligned fibronectin matrix deposition than other scaffolds. Overall, this study indicates the suitability of collagen/Ficoll/genipin for tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland; Department of Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Satyam
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raghunath
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pandit
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Zeugolis
mesh_terms: D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005362:Ficoll / Q000737:chemistry*; D005976:Glutaral / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D039823:Iridoids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013552:Swine; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D039823:Iridoids; D005362:Ficoll; D003094:Collagen; C007834:genipin; D005976:Glutaral