title: Chitosan-chitin nanocrystal composite scaffolds for tissue engineering.
abstract: Chitin nanocrystals (CNCs) with length and width of 300 and 20nm were uniformly dispersed in chitosan (CS) solution. The CS/CNCs composite scaffolds prepared utilizing a dispersion-based freeze dry approach exhibit significant enhancement in compressive strength and modulus compared with pure CS scaffold both in dry and wet state. A well-interconnected porous structure with size in the range of 100-200μm and over 80% porosity are found in the composite scaffolds. The crystal structure of CNCs is retained in the composite scaffolds. The incorporation of CNCs leads to increase in the scaffold density and decrease in the water swelling ratio. Moreover, the composite scaffolds are successfully applied as scaffolds for MC3T3-E1 osteoblast cells, showing their excellent biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity. The results of fluorescent micrographs images reveal that CNCs can markedly promote the cell adhesion and proliferation of the osteoblast on CS. The biocompatible composite scaffolds with enhanced mechanical properties have potential application in bone tissue engineering.
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. Electronic address: liumx@jnu.edu.cn.
authors: Mingxian
authors: M
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Huanjun
authors: H
authors: Zheng
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Juan
authors: J
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Shuangli
authors: S
authors: Li
authors: Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and Antibody Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors: Jianfang
authors: J
authors: Huang
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: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016062:Porosity; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002686:Chitin; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Biocompatibility; Chitin nanocrystal; Chitosan; Compressive property; Scaffold