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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The present study aimed to develop a pre-endothelialized chitosan (CH) porous hollowed scaffold for
application in spinal cord regenerative therapies. CH conduits with different degrees of acetylation
(DA; 4% and 15%) were prepared, characterized (microstructure, porosity and water uptake) and functionalized
with a recombinant fragment of human fibronectin (rhFNIII7–10). Immobilized rhFNIII7–10
was characterized in terms of amount (125I-radiolabelling), exposure of cell-binding domains (immunofluorescence)
and ability to mediate endothelial cell (EC) adhesion and cytoskeletal rearrangement. Functionalized
conduits revealed a linear increase in immobilized rhFNIII7–10 with rhFNIII7–10 concentration,
and, for the same concentration, higher amounts of rhFNIII7–10 on DA 4% compared with DA 15%. Moreover,
rhFNIII7–10 concentrations as low as 5 and 20 lgml 1 in the coupling reaction were shown to provide
DA 4% and 15% scaffolds, respectively, with levels of exposed cell-binding domains exceeding those
observed on the control (DA 4% scaffolds incubated in a 20 lgml 1 human fibronectin solution). These
grafting conditions proved to be effective in mediating EC adhesion/cytoskeletal organization on CH with
DA 4% and 15%, without affecting the endothelial angiogenic potential. rhFNIII7–10 grafting to CH could be
a strategy of particular interest in tissue engineering applications requiring the use of endothelialized
porous matrices with tunable degradation rates.
Description
Keywords
Three-dimensional scaffolds Surface grafting Protein radiolabelling Protein conformation Spinal cord injury
Citation
Publisher
Elsevier