This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Chandy, T. Articles by Das, G. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chandy, T. Articles by Das, G. S. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Development of Porous Alginate/Elastin/PEG Composite Matrix for Cardiovascular Engineering

Department of Cardiology

Gundu H. R. Rao

Department of Biomedical Engineering Institute University of Minnesota MMC # 508, 420 Delaware Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

Robert F. Wilson

Department of Cardiology

Gladwin S. Das

Department of Cardiology

The development of suitable three-dimensional matrices for the maintenance of cellular viability and differentiation is critical for applications in tissue engineering and cell biology. To this end, gel matrices of different proportions of alginate/elastin/polythylene glycol (Alg/Ela/PEG) were prepared and examined. The composite matrix membranes were evaluated for their porous scaffold using SEM, enzymatic degradation and water content. An equal blend of Alg/Ela with a ratio of Alg/Ela: PEG (7: 3) was selected for fabricating Alg/Ela/PEG scaffolds for this study. The Alg/Ela/PEG membranes fabricated at 20°C and -20°C had a mean surface pore size of 35-45 µm. However, their ultrastructures had shown bigger pore structures (60-75 µm) compared to their surface. It is interesting to note that the membranes of Alg/Ela/PEG prepared at 20°C had larger ultrastructural pores than that of membranes prepared at -20°C. Further, the SEM studies revealed that in the absence of PEG the composite membranes of Alg/Ela formed with less porous structures.

The water content of membranes prepared at 20°C was higher with Alg/Ela/PEG (61.6 ± 4.8%), compared to Alg/Ela (49.9 ± 0.3%). The enzymatic degradation and water content studies also revealed that the membranes fabricated at -20°C had high water uptake and low enzymatic degradation, as that of the membranes prepared at 20°C. In other words the larger pore structured membranes had less water content and high degradation profile. This study proposes that this novel composite matrix produces a hierarchical structure that is useful for generating tissue scaffolds for repairing the failing cardiac muscles. However, more detailed investigations with cytocompatibility studies are needed to find applications.

Key Words: tissue engineering • matrix membranes • alginate • elastin • poly ethylene glycol • enzymatic degradation

Journal of Biomaterials Applications, Vol. 17, No. 4, 287-301 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0885328203017004004


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Akhyari, H. Kamiya, A. Haverich, M. Karck, and A. Lichtenberg Myocardial tissue engineering: the extracellular matrix. Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., August 1, 2008; 34(2): 229 - 241. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]