Honeycomb Films of Biodegradable Polymers for Tissue Engineering
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Honeycomb Films of Biodegradable Polymers for Tissue Engineering Takehiro Nishikawa, Keiko Arai, Junko Hayashi, Masahiko Hara, and Masatsugu Shimomura Spatio-Temporal Function Materials Research Group, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, JAPAN. ABSTRACT We report that microporous films (honeycomb films) can lead various types of cells to tissue formation. The honeycomb films were fabricated by applying a moist air to a spread polymer solution containing biodegradable polymers (poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)) and an amphiphilic polymer. Hepatocytes were cultured on a self-supporting honeycomb film of PLLA. The hepatocytes formed a single layer of columnar shape cells with a thickness of 20 µm. The tissue formation of hepatocytes specifically occurred on the honeycomb film of PLLA, not on a flat film of PLLA. Three dimensional tissue structures were formed, when cells were cultured on both sides of the self-supporting honeycomb film. Double layers of hepatocytes were obtained by the method. Striated tissues such as heart and blood vessel could be reconstructed by utilizing a stretched honeycomb film of PCL. INTRODUCTION The tissue engineering is a technology for reconstruction of living tissues. Various matrices such as gels and porous materials have been developed to realize ideal tissue formation [1]. Matrix surface, so called “bio-interface” is an important place where cells are initially attached, because the cell-matrix interaction significantly influences the subsequent cell-cell interactions [2]. In this sense, the bio-interface should be designed to cause proper cell adhesion. It is well known that surface chemistry and surface morphology are two major points to note for the design of bio-interface [3-5]. The bio-interface to be issued in this report is a microporous film of degradable polymers. Honeycomb films are microporous films of polymers which are formed spontaneously by evaporating a polymer solution in a humid atmosphere [6]. We report the honeycomb films of degradable polymers, the control of cell spreading and cell alignment on the honeycomb films, and the application of the honeycomb films to three-dimensional cell culture system. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS Fabrication of honeycomb films Honeycomb films are formed, when moist air (75% r.h. at 20ºC) is applied to a droplet of polymer solution spread onto water surface. Solutions containing 1 g/L of degradable polymers ((poly(L-lactic acid): Sigma, (PLLA: Figure 1 (a)) and poly(ε-caprolactone): Birmingham Polymers, Inc., (PCL: Figure 1 (b))) and 0.1 g/L of an amphiphlic polymer (Figure 1 (c)) were prepared for the film fabrication. Benzene was utilized as a solvent for the amphiphilic polymer and PCL. Chloroform was utilized as a solvent for PLLA. One hundred µL of the N11.7.1 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. UCSD University of California San Diego, on 31 May 2020 at 01:12:21, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.o
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