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Scaffolding for challenging environments: Materials selection for tissue engineered intestine
Author(s) -
Boomer Laura,
Liu Yanchun,
Mahler Nathan,
Johnson Jed,
Zak Katelyn,
Nelson Tyler,
Lannutti John,
Besner Gail E.
Publication year - 2014
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.35047
Subject(s) - nanofiber , materials science , scaffold , biocompatibility , tissue engineering , biomedical engineering , glycolic acid , electrospinning , lactic acid , composite material , polymer , medicine , biology , bacteria , metallurgy , genetics
Abstract Novel therapies are crucially needed for short bowel syndrome. One potential therapy is the production of tissue engineered intestine (TEI). The intestinal environment presents significant challenges to the selection of appropriate material for tissue engineering scaffolds. Our goal was to characterize different scaffold materials to downselect to that best suited for TEI production. To investigate this, various tubular scaffolds were implanted into the peritoneal cavity of adult rats and harvested at multiple time‐points. Harvested scaffolds were examined histologically and subjected to degradation studies and mechanical evaluation. We found that poly(glycolic acid) (PGA)‐nanofiber and PGA‐macrofiber scaffolds exhibited early robust tissue infiltration. Poly(ɛ‐caprolactone) (PCL)‐nanofiber, poly( l ‐lactic acid) (PLLA)‐nanofiber, poly( d ‐lactic acid‐ co ‐glycolic acid) (PDLGA)‐nanofiber and polyurethane (PU)‐nanofiber experienced slower tissue infiltration. Poly(ɛ‐caprolactone‐ co ‐lactic acid) (PLC) nanofiber had poor tissue infiltration. Significant weight loss was observed in PGA‐nanofiber (92.2%), PGA‐macrofiber (67.6%), and PDLGA‐nanofiber (76.9%) scaffolds. Individual fibers were no longer seen by scanning electron microscopy in PLC‐nanofiber and PGA‐nanofiber scaffolds after 1 week, PGA‐macrofiber scaffolds after 2 weeks, and PDLGA‐nanofiber scaffolds after 4 weeks. In conclusion, PGA‐macrofiber and PDLGA appear to be the most appropriate materials choices as TEI scaffolds due to their biocompatibility and degradation. Future experiments will confirm these results by analyzing cell‐seeded scaffolds in vitro and in vivo . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 102A: 3795–3802, 2014.