Multilayer micromolding of degradable polymer tissue engineering scaffolds

Precise surface geometrical morphologies have been shown to improve cellular proliferation, adhesion, and functionality. It has been found that cells respond strongly to feature dimensions a fraction of their size. In this paper, soft lithography techniques were applied to microfabricate polydimethylsiloxane molds with precisely controlled micro-scale patterns. Three-dimensional polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds were fabricated using a multilayer micromolding (MMM) method. Proper heating and stamping parameters were developed for micromolding PCL. This process allowed control of the size, shape, and spacing of support structures within the scaffold. The micromolding of multiple layers with independent features allowed for alignment between layers. The high porosity, abundant interconnections, and sharp features were inherent advantages of the scaffolds. Human osteosarcoma cells were seeded in the 3-D scaffolds for cell growth testing. Fluorescent microscopy and scanning electron micrographs showed that cells responded well to the 3-D scaffolds and the scaffolds regulated cell morphology and adhesion.

[1]  G. Stevens,et al.  Systematic selection of solvents for the fabrication of 3D combined macro- and microporous polymeric scaffolds for soft tissue engineering , 2006, Journal of biomaterials science. Polymer edition.

[2]  Chenxi Li,et al.  Water-assisted fabrication of honeycomb structure porous film from poly(L-lactide) , 2006 .

[3]  Esmaiel Jabbari,et al.  Quantitative analysis of interconnectivity of porous biodegradable scaffolds with micro-computed tomography. , 2004, Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A.

[4]  M. Traisnel,et al.  Surface analyses of micro-arc oxidized and hydrothermally treated titanium and effect on osteoblast behavior. , 2004, Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A.

[5]  E. Sachlos,et al.  Making tissue engineering scaffolds work. Review: the application of solid freeform fabrication technology to the production of tissue engineering scaffolds. , 2003, European cells & materials.

[6]  Y. Kuo,et al.  Application of Bovine Pituitary Extract and Polyglycolide/Poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide) Scaffold to the Cultivation of Bovine Knee Chondrocytes , 2005, Biotechnology progress.

[7]  D. Hutmacher,et al.  Scaffolds in tissue engineering bone and cartilage. , 2000, Biomaterials.

[8]  Hyoun‐Ee Kim,et al.  Porous ZrO2 bone scaffold coated with hydroxyapatite with fluorapatite intermediate layer. , 2003, Biomaterials.

[9]  Shuichi Takayama,et al.  Micro- and nanotechnologies for studying cellular function. , 2003, Current topics in medicinal chemistry.

[10]  R Langer,et al.  Chondrogenesis in a cell-polymer-bioreactor system. , 1998, Experimental cell research.

[11]  B Lepioufle,et al.  Study of osteoblastic cells in a microfluidic environment. , 2006, Biomaterials.

[12]  Richard O C Oreffo,et al.  Bone tissue engineering: hope vs hype. , 2002, Biochemical and biophysical research communications.

[13]  S. Bhatia,et al.  Tissue Engineering at the Micro-Scale , 1999 .

[14]  Melba Navarro,et al.  New macroporous calcium phosphate glass ceramic for guided bone regeneration. , 2004, Biomaterials.

[15]  Dietmar W. Hutmacher,et al.  Scaffold design and fabrication technologies for engineering tissues — state of the art and future perspectives , 2001, Journal of biomaterials science. Polymer edition.

[16]  Dietmar W Hutmacher,et al.  Co-culture of bone marrow fibroblasts and endothelial cells on modified polycaprolactone substrates for enhanced potentials in bone tissue engineering. , 2006, Tissue engineering.

[17]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Patterning proteins and cells using soft lithography. , 1999, Biomaterials.

[18]  R. Misra,et al.  Biomaterials , 2008 .

[19]  T. Desai,et al.  Fabrication of microtextured membranes for cardiac myocyte attachment and orientation. , 2000, Journal of biomedical materials research.

[20]  Nicholas Ferrell,et al.  Fabrication of polymeric microparticles for drug delivery by soft lithography. , 2006, Biomaterials.

[21]  Tejal A. Desai,et al.  Methods for Fabrication of Nanoscale Topography for Tissue Engineering Scaffolds , 2006, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[22]  D. Kaplan,et al.  Porosity of 3D biomaterial scaffolds and osteogenesis. , 2005, Biomaterials.

[23]  R Langer,et al.  Collagen in tissue‐engineered cartilage: Types, structure, and crosslinks , 1998, Journal of cellular biochemistry.

[24]  Chuan Yi Tang,et al.  A 2.|E|-Bit Distributed Algorithm for the Directed Euler Trail Problem , 1993, Inf. Process. Lett..

[25]  Ericka Stricklin-Parker,et al.  Ann , 2005 .

[26]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[27]  F. Braet,et al.  Drying cells for SEM, AFM and TEM by hexamethyldisilazane: a study on hepatic endothelial cells , 1997, Journal of microscopy.