Mechanical properties and permeability of porous chitosan–poly(p-dioxanone)/silk fibroin conduits used for peripheral nerve repair. (October 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Hua; Zhang, Jun; Luo, Ying; Wan, Ying; Sun, Shaofa
• Is Part Of: Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials. Volume 50(2015)
• Page Start: 192
• Page End: 205
• Publication Date: 2015-10
• Subjects: Chitosan copolymer -- Silk fibroin -- Porous conduit -- Mechanical property -- Permeability; Biomedical materials -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials -- Mechanical properties -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials; Biomedical materials -- Mechanical properties; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2015.06.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-6161

Abstract

Abstract: Some poly( p -dioxanone) (PDO) homopolymers were first synthesized and the selected PDO was conjugated onto chitosan using a group-protecting method to produce chitosan–poly( p -dioxanone) (CH–PDO) copolymers with various PDO percentages changing from around 30 to 60 wt%. The CH–PDO with the PDO content of around 42 wt% was used to blend with prescribed amounts of silk fibroin (SF) to build porous single-lumen conduits that are intended to be used for long-gap peripheral nerve repair. Some genipin-crosslinked CH–PDO/SF conduits were endowed with an average porosity of around 60% in their porous wall, and with changed pore-sizes varying from around 10 to ca . 70 μm using optimized processing conditions. After being degraded in a PBS medium containing a certain amount of lysozyme for various periods up to 8 weeks, some optimal CH–PDO/SF conduits were able to retain their compressive load and deformation recovery at around 59 N/m and 73% in wet state, respectively. In addition, the achieved CH–PDO/SF conduits allowed the permeation of nutritional molecules with various molecular weights while showing a certain ability to prevent cells from infiltrating through the conduit wall. Cell culture confirmed that the optimized CH–PDO/SF conduits were able well supported the growth of rat glioma C6 cells. These results suggest that presently developed CH–PDO/SF conduits have promising potential for long-gap peripheral nerve repair. Graphical abstract: Porous chitosan–poly( p -dioxanone)/silk fibroin conduit. (A) SEM image for lumen surface; (B) SEM image for outer-diameter surface; (C) SEM image for transversal section of conduit wall; and (D) fluorescent image for cell distribution in the transversal section of conduit wall with DAPI nuclei staining after culture for 14 days. Highlights: Chitosan–poly( p -dioxanone) copolymers are synthesized using a group-protecting method. Optimal chitosan–poly( p -dioxanone) is blended with silk fibroin to produce porous conduits. Conduits are crosslinked using selected crosslinker under optimized conditions. Conduits have good wet-state mechanical properties as well as selective permeability. Conduits support cell proliferation and are able to prevent fibrous tissues from infiltrating.