Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyoctanoate) (PHBHOx) is a new type of polyhydroxylalkanoic acids materials, and has excellent plasticity, biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, as for other ester materials, the hydrophilic properties of PHBHOx is poor, the cell adhesion capability of PHBHOx scaffold is low.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate its cell adhesion capability of PHBHOx/acellular cartilage matrix (ACM) scaffolds.
METHODS: Fresh porcine articular cartilage from knee joints was sliced and then treated sequentially with Triton X-100, hypotonic solution Tris-HCl, DNA enzyme, RNA enzyme for decellularization. The ACM was shattered into powder at low temperature and composited with PHBHOx in different ratios to fabricate scaffold using solvent-casting, particulate-leaching method. Chondrocytes isolated from porcine articular cartilage were cultured and used in cell adhesion experiment. The adhesion and survival of chondrocytes on scaffolds were analyzed using MTT test and scanning electron microscopy.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The cell adhesion rate of PHBHOx/ACM scaffold was significantly higher than the control group, chondrocytes adhered tightly and grew well on composite scaffold. All the results showed that ACM could significantly improve the cell adhesion capability of PHBHOx scaffold.