Fabrication of Novel Porous Chitosan Matrices as Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Three dimensional (3-D) scaffolds with appropriate mechanical properties play a significant role in scaffold-based tissue engineering. Chitosan, a natural polymer obtained from chitin, which forms a major component of crustacean exoskeleton, is a potential candidate for bone tissue engineering due to its excellent osteocompatibility and biodegradability. The aim of the present study is to develop 3-D porous chitosan scaffolds with mechanical properties in the range of trabecular bone as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Three dimensional scaffolds were prepared by sintering chitosan microspheres. Chitosan microspheres were prepared by ionotropic gelation of chitosan solution using sodium tripolyphosphate. It has been found that the microsphere size increased significantly with the increase of the concentration of chitosan solution. The microspheres were then sintered together using the synergetic effect of solvent and temperature. The compressive moduli of the 3-D sintered matrices were found to be in the mid range of trabecular bone. The osteocompatibility and osteoconductivity of the 3-D matrices were demonstrated by adhesion and proliferation of MC3T3-El osteoblast like cells on the matrices after 14 days in culture.

Biologically Active Chitosan Systems for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

“…When the number of N-glucosamine units (DDA) is higher than 50%, the biopolymer is termed chitosan [30]. Chitosan aqueous solution can readily be fabricated into different forms such as films, tubes, sponges and other porous structures for various tissue engineering and drug delivery applications [31,32]. 2b).…”

Nano-TiO2 Doped Chitosan Scaffold for the Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

“…GAG is the chief constituent of ECMs that allow cell accumulation or adhesion and proliferation on the surface of scaffold. Many studies stated that the porous structure [ 10 ] gels [ 11 ], thin films [ 12 ], membranes [ 13 ], and fibres [ 14 ] favour more bone cell growth with chitosan. However, chitosan has numerous shortcomings such as lack of mechanical strength, fast degradation, and missing of cell signaling molecules that are most important for growth of damaged tissue [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Branched chitosans II: Effects of branching on degradation, protein adsorption and cell growth properties

“…In addition, the material has been shown to promote wound healing, and exhibits a minimal foreign body response with accelerated angiogenesis [4][5][6][7][8]. Chitosan has been used in a variety of biomedical applications including: wound dressings [9][10][11][12], drug delivery systems [13,14] and tissue engineered implants [15][16][17][18][19]. In most of these efforts, chitosan has been blended, crosslinked, or grafted with another molecule to bring about changes in properties as required for the specific application.…”