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An ice-templated, linearly aligned chitosan-alginate scaffold for neural tissue engineering
Journal article   Peer reviewed

An ice-templated, linearly aligned chitosan-alginate scaffold for neural tissue engineering

Nicola L. Francis, Philipp M. Hunger, Amalie E. Donius, Benjamin W. Riblett, Antonios Zavaliangos, Ulrike G. K. Wegst and Margaret A. Wheatley
Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A, v 101(12), pp 3493-3503
01 Dec 2013
PMID: 23596011

Abstract

Engineering Engineering, Biomedical Materials Science Materials Science, Biomaterials Science & Technology Technology
Several strategies have been investigated to enhance axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury, however, the resulting growth can be random and disorganized. Bioengineered scaffolds provide a physical substrate for guidance of regenerating axons towards their targets, and can be produced by freeze casting. This technique involves the controlled directional solidification of an aqueous solution or suspension, resulting in a linearly aligned porous structure caused by ice templating. In this study, freeze casting was used to fabricate porous chitosan-alginate (C/A) scaffolds with longitudinally oriented channels. Chick dorsal root ganglia explants adhered to and extended neurites through the scaffold in parallel alignment with the channel direction. Surface adsorption of a polycation and laminin promoted significantly longer neurite growth than the uncoated scaffold (poly-L-ornithine + Laminin = 793.2 +/- 187.2 mu m; poly-L-lysine + Laminin = 768.7 +/- 241.2 mu m; uncoated scaffold = 22.52 +/- 50.14 mu m) (P < 0.001). The elastic modulus of the hydrated scaffold was determined to be 5.08 +/- 0.61 kPa, comparable to reported spinal cord values. The present data suggested that this C/A scaffold is a promising candidate for use as a nerve guidance scaffold, because of its ability to support neuronal attachment and the linearly aligned growth of DRG neurites. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 101A: 3493-3503, 2013.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Engineering, Biomedical
Materials Science, Biomaterials
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