Dual Porosity Protein-based Scaffolds with Enhanced Cell Infiltration and Proliferation

Abstract

3D dual porosity protein-based scaffolds have been developed using the combination of foaming and freeze-drying. The suggested approach leads to the production of large, highly porous scaffolds with negligible shrinkage and deformation compared to the conventional freeze-drying method. Scanning electron microscopy, standard histological processing and mercury intrusion porosimetry confirmed the formation of a dual network in the form of big primary pores (243 ± 14 µm) embracing smaller secondary pores (42 ± 3 µm) opened onto their surface, resembling a vascular network. High interconnectivity of the pores, confirmed by micro-CT, is shown to improve diffusion kinetics and support a relatively uniform distribution of isolated human dental pulp stem cells within the scaffold compared to conventional scaffolds. Dual network scaffolds indicate more than three times as high cell proliferation capability as conventional scaffolds in 14 days.

A novel poly (vinyl alcohol)/poly (ethylene glycol) scaffold for tissue engineering with a unique bimodal open-celled structure fabricated using supercritical fluid foaming

“…Recently, environmentally friendly and biodegradable polymer foams have attracted increasing attention from academic and industrial researchers. This is because these porous materials have been widely developed for drug delivery application and as the scaffold for tissue engineering 1–3 . As a representative of this family, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is not only biodegradable but can also be produced via non-petroleum routes, which is an alternative to the exhaustion of petroleum resources.…”

Computational model of 3D cell migration based on the molecular clutch mechanism

“…In the future, features that may be incorporated in our model include cell compressibility, nuclear dimension and also the notion of dual pore sizes within the same ECM. Dual pore sizes or porosities center around the notion that smaller pores facilitate nutrient supply, waste removal, and cell proliferation, while larger pores encourage proliferation and interconnectivity (46).…”

Development of Biopolymeric Hybrid Scaffold-Based on AAc/GO/nHAp/TiO2 Nanocomposite for Bone Tissue Engineering: In-Vitro Analysis

“…The freeze-drying method, on the other hand, can produce more porosity with appropriate pore size. As a result, freeze-drying is a common method to fabricate porous scaffolds that can be controlled by ice crystal growth [ 19 ].…”