Development and Characterization of Gelatin-Based Uniaxial Macro-Porous Scaffold by Ionotropic Gelation

Abstract

For in vitro rearing of long cells such as neuron cells, an artificial tissue engineered construct of appropriate pore structure is of great interest among the modern day researchers. To allow such cells to grow, the mimicking substance must have uniform uniaxial macro-pores. Along with the pore structures, the scaffold must be biocompatible, bioactive, biodegradable etc. To develop and characterize such a construct, a novel approach has been proposed to create a gelatin-based alginate-hydrogel crosslinked with copper ions. The prepared constructs were characterized using SEM, FTIR, pH measurement, swelling study, degradation study and Hemocompatibility study. The copper ions were removed to reduce toxicity. The results showed uniform pores having diameter in the range of 20 to 300 µm and those were visualized like a continuous tubes. Energy Dispersion Spectra (EDS) analysis showed the successful removal of copper ions from the prepared hydrogel. Maximum swelling ratio was found to be 50% and 100% degradation index was observed in all copper-containing samples. Hemocompatibility data showed below 5% hemolysis for all the samples