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Biomimetic design and fabrication of porous chitosan–gelatin liver scaffolds with hierarchical channel network

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Abstract

The presence of a hierarchical channel network in tissue engineering scaffold is essential to construct metabolically demanding liver tissue with thick and complex structures. In this research, chitosan–gelatin (C/G) scaffolds with fine three-dimensional channels were fabricated using indirect solid freeform fabrication and freeze-drying techniques. Fabrication processes were studied to create predesigned hierarchical channel network inside C/G scaffolds and achieve desired porous structure. Static in-vitro cell culture test showed that HepG2 cells attached on both micro-pores and micro-channels in C/G scaffolds successfully. HepG2 proliferated at much higher rates on C/G scaffolds with channel network, compared with those without channels. This approach demonstrated a promising way to engineer liver scaffolds with hierarchical channel network, and may lead to the development of thick and complex liver tissue equivalent in the future.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank National Science Foundation (NSF) for the support DMI-0300405, CMMI-0700139 and CMMI-0925348, to let us to conduct this challenging project. We are grateful that Professor Peter I. Lelkes generously provided cell culture related facility. We also would like to thank Dr. Qingwei Zhang for the help in SEM, Dr. Jingjia Han for the help in cell culture, Pimchanok Pimton for the help in confocal microscope, Dolores Conover for the help in freeze-drying. The Centralized Research Facility (CRF) of the College of Engineering at Drexel University provided access to electronic microscopes used in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Haibo Gong, Jephte Agustin & Jack G. Zhou

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cooper Union, 30 Cooper Square, New York, NY, 19003, USA

    David Wootton

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  1. Haibo Gong
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  2. Jephte Agustin
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  3. David Wootton
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  4. Jack G. Zhou
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Correspondence to Jack G. Zhou.

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Gong, H., Agustin, J., Wootton, D. et al. Biomimetic design and fabrication of porous chitosan–gelatin liver scaffolds with hierarchical channel network. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 25, 113–120 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-013-5061-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-013-5061-8

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