摘要

Understanding the bulk properties of a prefabricated scaffold for handling and degradation during cell culture may be advantageous to its application in tissue engineering. Modification of the bulk properties of the porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) ( PLGA) scaffold was performed by irradiation with a high energy cyclotron proton ion beam. The porous PLGA scaffolds were fabricated in advance by the gas-foaming method by employing ammonium bicarbonate particles as porogens. Irradiation with ion beams was performed with 40 MeV for 3, 6 and 9 min on the scaffolds at a distance of 30 cm from the beam exit to the scaffold surface. The bulk area of the ion beam-treated PLGA scaffold apparently demonstrated no color changes when observed with a digital camera. The chemical structures of the untreated samples seemed to be kept well when analyzed by both Fourier transformed infrared but a subtle change was observed in its x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results of in vitro tissue culture with smooth muscle cells for up to 4 weeks also demonstrated no significant difference in terms of its handling stability during cell culture and cellular behavior between the untreated PLGA scaffolds and the ion beam-treated ones. However, significant changes were observed in its molecular weight as measured by gel permeation chromatography, indicating a significant reduction of its molecular weights. These results of in vitro tests and GPC measurements indicated that while bulk modification of the scaffold was processed, its handling was stable during in vitro cell culture for up to 4 weeks.

  • 出版日期2009-8