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Collagen density gradient on three‐dimensional printed poly(ε‐caprolactone) scaffolds for interface tissue engineering
Author(s) -
D'Amora Ugo,
D'Este Matteo,
Eglin David,
Safari Fatemeh,
Sprecher Christoph M.,
Gloria Antonio,
De Santis Roberto,
Alini Mauro,
Ambrosio Luigi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.835
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1932-7005
pISSN - 1932-6254
DOI - 10.1002/term.2457
Subject(s) - tissue engineering , surface modification , materials science , caprolactone , porosity , carbodiimide , biofabrication , deposition (geology) , nanotechnology , biomedical engineering , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer , polymer chemistry , engineering , polymerization , paleontology , sediment , biology
The ability to engineer scaffolds that resemble the transition between tissues would be beneficial to improve repair of complex organs, but has yet to be achieved. In order to mimic tissue organization, such constructs should present continuous gradients of geometry, stiffness and biochemical composition. Although the introduction of rapid prototyping or additive manufacturing techniques allows deposition of heterogeneous layers and shape control, the creation of surface chemical gradients has not been explored on three‐dimensional (3D) scaffolds obtained through fused deposition modelling technique. Thus, the goal of this study was to introduce a gradient functionalization method in which a poly(ε‐caprolactone) surface was first aminolysed and subsequently covered with collagen via carbodiimide reaction. The 2D constructs were characterized for their amine and collagen contents, wettability, surface topography and biofunctionality. Finally, chemical gradients were created in 3D printed scaffolds with controlled geometry and porosity. The combination of additive manufacturing and surface modification is a viable tool for the fabrication of 3D constructs with controlled structural and chemical gradients. These constructs can be employed for mimicking continuous tissue gradients for interface tissue engineering.