title: Macroporous and nanofibrous poly(lactide-co-glycolide)(50/50) scaffolds via phase separation combined with particle-leaching.
abstract: Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) copolymers are the most prevalent materials for tissue engineering applications. To mimic the real microenvironment of extracellular matrix (ECM) for cell growth, nanofibrous PLGA scaffolds are preferred. PLGA5050 (in which the molar ratio of lactidyl to glycolidyl units is 50:50), which is an utterly amorphous polymer, was first reported to be made into nanofibrous networks (fiber diameter around 500 nm) using phase separation from PLGA5050/THF solutions in this study. The concentration of polymeric solution had significant effects on fiber diameter and unit length. Nonsolvent (e.g. H2O) was unnecessary to form the PLGA5050 gel, which was critical to nanofibrosis, as if the environmental temperature for gelation occurrence was low enough (-70 °C). The physical crosslinks to stabilize the PLGA5050/THF gel were believed to be GA segments along the backbone owing to their inferior solubility in THF. The addition of H2O would cause adverse effects of liquid-liquid phase separation and nanofibrosis failure owing to the hydrophilicity of glycolidyl units. Associating with the phase separation method, particle-leaching technique was applied to fabricate three-dimensional scaffolds with macroporous and nanofibrous structures. To ensure the occurrence of nanofibrosis on macropore walls, the temperature of salt particles should be best lowed to -70 °C beforehand. Accordingly, scaffolds prepared under varied parameters exhibited different nanofiber and pore morphologies, which affected the pore size, porosity, specific surface area, water contact angle and protein adsorption ability etc. The preliminary cell (MC3T3-E1) culture confirmed the cell ingrowth into the macroporous and nanofibrous PLGA5050 scaffolds in comparison with the solely nanofibrous matrixes. This kind of bi-scaled three dimensional matrixes can be superior candidate scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
authors.forename: Jifu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
authors.forename: Shun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: School and Hospital of Stomatology, Perking University, Beijing 100081, PR China.
authors.forename: Xuliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D051379:Mice; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011098:Polyglactin 910 / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D012995:Solubility; D012996:Solutions / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D011108:Polymers; D012996:Solutions; D014867:Water; D011098:Polyglactin 910