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Scaffolds for epithelial tissue engineering customized in elastomeric molds
Author(s) -
Abdallah MohamedNur,
Abdollahi Sara,
Laurenti Marco,
Fang Dongdong,
Tran Simon D,
Cerruti Marta,
Tamimi Faleh
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.33897
Subject(s) - materials science , interconnectivity , tissue engineering , elastomer , biomedical engineering , porosity , composite material , computer science , medicine , artificial intelligence
Abstract Restoration of soft tissue defects remains a challenge for surgical reconstruction. In this study, we introduce a new approach to fabricate poly( d , l ‐lactic acid) (PDLLA) scaffolds with anatomical shapes customized to regenerate three‐dimensional soft tissue defects. Highly concentrated polymer/salt mixtures were molded in flexible polyether molds. Microcomputed tomography showed that with this approach it was possible to produce scaffolds with clinically acceptable volume ratio maintenance (>90%). Moreover, this technique allowed us to customize the average pore size and pore interconnectivity of the scaffolds by using variations of salt particle size. In addition, this study demonstrated that with the increasing porosity and/or the decreasing of the average pore size of the PDLLA scaffolds, their mechanical properties decrease and they degrade more slowly. Cell culture results showed that PDLLA scaffolds with an average pore size of 100 µm enhance the viability and proliferation rates of human gingival epithelial cells up to 21 days. The simple method proposed in this article can be extended to fabricate porous scaffolds with customizable anatomical shapes and optimal pore structure for epithelial tissue engineering. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 880–890, 2018.