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Thesis
Electrospun crosslinked hyaluronic acid fibers for tissue engineering applications
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
May 2012
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-3916
Abstract
In the United States, organ transplant demand overwhelms the available supply. Numerous diseases and afflictions, such as burn trauma, are conditions which require accelerated tissue growth and repair in order for those affected to recover or even to survive. Regenerative medicine is a discipline which seeks to repair and restore existing damaged organs and tissues utilizing knowledge from a variety of scientific genres, including material science and engineering. Electrospinning is a cost effective and simple technique that is used to produce non woven fibrous meshes out of polymers. These three dimensional (3D) fibrous meshes can mimic the architecture of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) of the cell, which is critical for cell adhesion, proliferation, and growth. Here, we investigate the fabrication of an enhanced mesh or scaffold for tissue engineering applications by electrospinning the connective tissue extracellular matrix component hyaluronic acid (HA) in a novel neutral solvent system. Moreover, we address the current issue of maintaining the fibrous structure of electrospun biopolymer mats by crosslinking our HA fibers with divinyl sulfone (DVS). The crosslinked HA mats were chemically stable and did not degrade in aqueous solutions. The morphology, chemical interactions and stability of the formed HA fiber mats were characterized using SEM, FTIR, and solubility tests, respectively. Cell viability studies indicate that HA mats allowed the normal, healthy growth of viable HeLa cells when viewed under a fluorescent confocal microscope. Interestingly, microspike projections within the fluorescently tagged cytoskeleton of the cells indicate an enhanced interaction of the cell ECM and electrospun 3D fibrous scaffolds. These new methods of electrospinning will develop a dressing that should enhance or promote therapeutic wound healing.
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Details
- Title
- Electrospun crosslinked hyaluronic acid fibers for tissue engineering applications
- Creators
- Laura J. Toth - DU
- Contributors
- Caroline L. Schauer (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Materials Science and Engineering; College of Engineering; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 3916; 991014631950004721