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Preparation and characterization of alginate/gelatin blend films for cardiac tissue engineering
Author(s) -
Rosellini Elisabetta,
Cristallini Caterina,
Barbani Niccoletta,
Vozzi Giovanni,
Giusti Paolo
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.32216
Subject(s) - gelatin , materials science , miscibility , thermogravimetric analysis , differential scanning calorimetry , swelling , tissue engineering , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , polymer , chemical engineering , characterization (materials science) , biomedical engineering , polymer blend , c2c12 , thermal stability , composite material , polymer chemistry , copolymer , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , in vitro , chemistry , biochemistry , myogenesis , medicine , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
Abstract The aim of this work was the preparation of blends based on alginate and gelatin, with different weight ratio, to combine the advantages of these two natural polymers for application in cardiac tissue engineering. The physicochemical characterization, performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, revealed a good miscibility and the presence of interactions among the functional groups of pure biopolymers. Concerning the swelling and degradation tests, performed in different solutions simulating body fluids, both swelling degree and weight losses were higher in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and for the blends with a higher content of gelatin. These results indicated a better stability of the blends in cell culture medium than in PBS and suggested a mainly hydrolytic degradation process. Cell culture tests, carried out using C2C12 myoblasts, showed a good cell proliferation for all the blends containing more than 60% of gelatin, with the alginate/gelatin 20:80 showing the best response. The same blend was the only one on which cell differentiation was observed. The results obtained in the biological characterization allow to select the alginate/gelatin 20:80 blend as a suitable material to prepare scaffolds for myocardial tissue engineering. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2009