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Poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds of highly controlled porosity and interconnectivity derived from co-continuous polymer blends: model bead and cell infiltration behavior

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Abstract

Porous structures destined for tissue engineering applications should ideally show controlled and narrow pore size distributions with fully interconnected pores. This study focuses on the development of novel poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) structures with fully connected pores of 84, 116, 141, and 162 μm average diameter, from melt blending of PCL with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) at the co-continuous composition, followed by static annealing and selective extraction of PEO. Our results demonstrate a low onset concentration for PEO continuity and a broad region of phase inversion. A novel in vitro assay was used to compare scaffold infiltration by 10-μm diameter polystyrene beads intended to mimic trypsinized human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs). Beads showed a linear increase in the extent of scaffold infiltration with increasing pore size, whereas BMSCs infiltrated 162 and 141 μm pores, below which the cells aggregated and adhered near the seeding area with low infiltration into the porous device. While providing a baseline for non-aggregated systems, the beads closely mimic trypsinized cells at pore sizes equal to or larger than 141 μm, where optimal retention and distribution of hBMSCs are detected. A cytotoxicity assay using L929 cells showed that these scaffolds were cytocompatible and no cell necrosis was detected. This study shows that a melt blending approach produces porous PCL scaffolds of highly controlled pore size, narrow size distribution and complete interconnectivity, while the bead model system reveals the baseline potential for a homogeneous, non-aggregated distribution of hBMSCs at all penetration depths.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Sylvie St-Amour and Sylvie Sauriol at FPInnovations for their valuable assistance with the porosimetric measurements and Guillaume Lessard at École Polytechnique de Montréal for his help in the preparation of the scaffolds. Also, financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through its Network for Innovative Plastic Materials and Manufacturing Processes (NIPMMP), NSERC Discovery (to CDH), and salary support for XL and CDH from the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRQ-S, Bourse de Carrière Nationale to CDH) and the Mentor program for MBA is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Nima Ghavidel Mehr, Xian Li, Marianne B. Ariganello, Caroline D. Hoemann & Basil D. Favis

  2. Centre de Recherche Sur Les Systèmes Polymères et Composites à Haute Performance (CREPEC), École Polytechnique, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Nima Ghavidel Mehr & Basil D. Favis

  3. Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and Groupe de Recherches Sciences et Technologies (GRSTB), École Polytechnique, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada

    Xian Li & Caroline D. Hoemann

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  1. Nima Ghavidel Mehr
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Correspondence to Basil D. Favis.

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Ghavidel Mehr, N., Li, X., Ariganello, M.B. et al. Poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds of highly controlled porosity and interconnectivity derived from co-continuous polymer blends: model bead and cell infiltration behavior. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 25, 2083–2093 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-014-5256-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-014-5256-7

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