TY - JOUR
T1 - Compressed collagen constructs with optimized mechanical properties and cell interactions for tissue engineering applications
AU - Ajalloueian, Fatemeh
AU - Nikogeorgos, Nikolaos
AU - Ajalloueian, Ali
AU - Fossum, Magdalena
AU - Lee, Seunghwan
AU - Chronakis, Ioannis S
N1 - Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/3
Y1 - 2018/3
N2 - In this study, we are introducing a simple, fast and reliable add-in to the technique of plastic compression to obtain collagen sheets with decreased fibrillar densities, representing improved cell-interactions and mechanical properties. Collagen hydrogels with different initial concentrations (1.64mg/mL-0.41mg/mL) were compressed around an electrospun sheet of PLGA. The scaffolds were then studied as non-seeded, or seeded with 3T3 fibroblast cells and cultured for 7days. Confocal microscopy and TEM imaging of non-seeded scaffolds showed that by decreasing the share of collagen in the hydrogel formula, collagen sheets with similar thickness but lower fibrous densities were achieved. Nanomechanical characterization of compressed collagen sheets by AFM showed that Young's modulus was inversely proportional to the final concentration of collagen. Similarly, according to SEM, MTS, and cell nuclei counting, all the scaffolds supported cell adhesion and proliferation, whilst the highest metabolic activities and proliferation were seen in the scaffolds with lowest collagen content in hydrogel formula. We conclude that by decreasing the collagen content in the formula of collagen hydrogel for plastic compression, not only a better cell environment and optimum mechanical properties are achieved, but also the application costs of this biopolymer is reduced.
AB - In this study, we are introducing a simple, fast and reliable add-in to the technique of plastic compression to obtain collagen sheets with decreased fibrillar densities, representing improved cell-interactions and mechanical properties. Collagen hydrogels with different initial concentrations (1.64mg/mL-0.41mg/mL) were compressed around an electrospun sheet of PLGA. The scaffolds were then studied as non-seeded, or seeded with 3T3 fibroblast cells and cultured for 7days. Confocal microscopy and TEM imaging of non-seeded scaffolds showed that by decreasing the share of collagen in the hydrogel formula, collagen sheets with similar thickness but lower fibrous densities were achieved. Nanomechanical characterization of compressed collagen sheets by AFM showed that Young's modulus was inversely proportional to the final concentration of collagen. Similarly, according to SEM, MTS, and cell nuclei counting, all the scaffolds supported cell adhesion and proliferation, whilst the highest metabolic activities and proliferation were seen in the scaffolds with lowest collagen content in hydrogel formula. We conclude that by decreasing the collagen content in the formula of collagen hydrogel for plastic compression, not only a better cell environment and optimum mechanical properties are achieved, but also the application costs of this biopolymer is reduced.
KW - 3T3 Cells
KW - Animals
KW - Biocompatible Materials/chemistry
KW - Biomechanical Phenomena
KW - Cell Adhesion/drug effects
KW - Cell Communication/drug effects
KW - Cell Proliferation/drug effects
KW - Collagen/chemistry
KW - Hydrogels/chemistry
KW - Lactic Acid/chemistry
KW - Mechanical Phenomena
KW - Mice
KW - Polyglycolic Acid/chemistry
KW - Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer
KW - Tensile Strength
KW - Tissue Engineering
KW - Tissue Scaffolds/chemistry
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.11.117
DO - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.11.117
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 29162461
SN - 0141-8130
VL - 108
SP - 158
EP - 166
JO - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
JF - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
ER -