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Poly‐ l ‐Lactic Acid Nanofiber–Polyamidoamine Hydrogel Composites: Preparation, Properties, and Preliminary Evaluation as Scaffolds for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Culturing
Author(s) -
Gualandi Chiara,
Bloise Nora,
Mauro Nicolò,
Ferruti Paolo,
Manfredi Amedea,
Sampaolesi Maurilio,
Liguori Anna,
Laurita Romolo,
Gherardi Matteo,
Colombo Vittorio,
Visai Livia,
Focarete Maria Letizia,
Ranucci Elisabetta
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201600061
Subject(s) - nanofiber , self healing hydrogels , acrylic acid , polymer chemistry , covalent bond , chemical engineering , lactic acid , materials science , chemistry , polymer , composite material , organic chemistry , monomer , biology , bacteria , engineering , genetics
Electrospun poly‐ l ‐lactic acid (PLLA) nanofiber mats carrying surface amine groups, previously introduced by nitrogen atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasma, are embedded into aqueous solutions of oligomeric acrylamide‐end capped AGMA1, a biocompatible polyamidoamine with arg‐gly‐asp (RGD)‐reminiscent repeating units. The resultant mixture is finally cured giving PLLA‐AGMA1 hydrogel composites that absorb large amounts of water and, in the swollen state, are translucent, soft, and pliable, yet as strong as the parent PLLA mat. They do not split apart from each other when swollen in water and remain highly flexible and resistant, since the hydrogel portion is covalently grafted onto the PLLA nanofibers via the addition reaction of the surface amine groups to a part of the terminal acrylic double bonds of AGMA1 oligomers. Preliminary tested as scaffolds, the composites prove capable of maintaining short‐term undifferentiated cultures of human pluripotent stem cells in feeder‐free conditions.