title: In vitro evaluation of alginate/halloysite nanotube composite scaffolds for tissue engineering.
abstract: In this study, a series of alginate/halloysite nanotube (HNTs) composite scaffolds were prepared by solution-mixing and freeze-drying method. HNTs are incorporated into alginate to improve both the mechanical and cell-attachment properties of the scaffolds. The interfacial interactions between alginate and HNTs were confirmed by the atomic force microscope (AFM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and FTIR spectroscopy. The mechanical, morphological, and physico-chemical properties of the composite scaffolds were investigated. The composite scaffolds exhibit significant enhancement in compressive strength and compressive modulus compared with pure alginate scaffold both in dry and wet states. A well-interconnected porous structure with size in the range of 100-200μm and over 96% porosity is found in the composite scaffolds. X-ray diffraction (XRD) result shows that HNTs are uniformly dispersed and partly oriented in the composite scaffolds. The incorporation of HNTs leads to increase in the scaffold density and decrease in the water swelling ratio of alginate. HNTs improve the stability of alginate scaffolds against enzymatic degradation in PBS solution. Thermogravimetrica analysis (TGA) shows that HNTs can improve the thermal stability of the alginate. The mouse fibroblast cells display better attachment to the alginate/HNT composite than those to the pure alginate, suggesting the good cytocompatibility of the composite scaffolds. Alginate/HNT composite scaffolds exhibit great potential for applications in tissue engineering.
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Mingxian
authors: M
authors: Liu
authors: Guangzhou Institute of Traumatic Surgery, Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510220, China.
authors: Libing
authors: L
authors: Dai
authors: Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Huizhe
authors: H
authors: Shi
authors: Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Sheng
authors: S
authors: Xiong
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. Electronic address: tcrz9@jnu.edu.cn.
authors: Changren
authors: C
authors: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D041702:BALB 3T3 Cells; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D002460:Cell Line; D000077215:Clay; D019245:Compressive Strength; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D000077215:Clay
keywords: Alginate; Biocompatibility; Compressive property; Halloysite; Scaffold