Characterizing Microporous PCL Matrices for Application of Tissue Engineering

Chih-Chang Yeh ； Yun-Ting Li ； Pei-Hsiu Chiang ； Chun-Hao Huang ； Yiwei Wang ； Hsin-I Chang

《Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering》 29卷2期 (2009/04) Pp. 92-97

並列摘要

Polycaprolactonc (PCL) is a semicrystalline polymer and has been fabricated into various forms such as membranes, films, matrices, fibers, micro/nano particles, capsules and reservoir devices for drug delivery and tissue engineering due to its good biocompatibility. In this study, microporous PCL matrices (MPM) with 10-20μm pores on the surface were produced using various PCL molecular weight from 40,000 to 80,000 by precipitation casting method. The tensile strength of MPM prepared using 12.5% w/v polymer solution tended to increase from 0.83 Mpa to 1.42 Mpa and the elongation rate was improved from 35.2% to 117.8% when increasing PCL molecular weight. In addition, there was also a significant increase in compression and bending strength. MPM exhibited high porosity up to 72.4%, and the porosity of MPM reduced with rising of PCL solution concentration and molecular weight. The crystallinity of MPM prepared using 12.5% CAPA6400 polymer solution was measured at approximately 67%, while molecular weight showed a minor effect on the crystallinity of MPM. In cytocompatibility studies, MPM prepared using CAPA 6500 and 6800 showed higher cell attachment than CAPA 6400. Three-point bending test also showed that MPM prepared with low molecular weight (CAPA 6400) had a higher fragility for easy breakdown of tissue scaffold. Therefore, MPM prepared using CAPA 6500 (or CAPA 6800) may be more suitable tissue scaffold for biomedical application. Herein, we report that processing parameters such as polymer solution concentrations and molecular weight could modify the porosity and stiffness of MPM and then influence cell/biomaterial interaction.

並列關鍵字

Polycaprolactone ； Tissue engineering ； Cytocompatibility ； Fibroblast