Freeze-Dried Biomaterials Scaffold as in vitro Models for Fibroblast Culture in Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Scaffold materials are essential elements for tissue engineering. In order to facilitate cell proliferation, the scaffold materials should provide a good microenvironment for the adhesion of cells. Among various biomaterials, natural polymers have been used to construct the scaffolds due to their ability to mimic the extracellular matrix to guide the organization of the cells. The aim of the present study was to synthesize and evaluate a composite scaffold using natural polymers; agarose-chitosan–gelatin (AG–CH–GEL) by blending-freeze-drying procedure. The properties of the scaffold such as water uptake ability and biodegradation rate were studied. The cytotoxicity of the composite scaffold on human fibroblast was studied using MTT assay. Fibroblast morphology was assessed using hematoxylin and eosin stain. All scaffolds were able to uptake water up to 80%and degraded lower than 11% per week. The MTT assay demonstrated that the scaffold consisting of 2% - 3% agarose, 2% chitosan and 3% gelatin could support human fibroblast proliferation. H&E staining revealed the presence of fibroblasts in the scaffolds. These results indicated that the AG-CH-GEL composite scaffold could be used as the scaffold to support fibroblast growth and proliferation for tissue engineering.