Abstract
In this paper, we have developed a method to produce poly(lactic-co- glycolic acid) (PLGA) microfibers within a microfluidic chip for the generation of 3D tissue engineering scaffolds. The synthesis of PLGA fibers was achieved by using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic spinning device in which linear streams of PLGA dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were precipitated in a glycerol-containing water solution. By changing the flow rate of PLGA solution from 1 to 50 μL/min with a sheath flow rate of 250 or 1000 μL/min, fibers were formed with diameters that ranged from 20 to 230 μm. The PLGA fibers were comprised of a dense outer surface and a highly porous interior. To evaluate the applicability of PLGA microfibers generated in this process as a cell culture scaffold, L929 fibroblasts were seeded on the PLGA fibers either as-fabricated or coated with fibronectin. L929 fibroblasts showed no significant difference in proliferation on both PLGA microfibers after 5 days of culture. As a test for application as nerve guide, neural progenitor cells were cultured and the neural axons elongated along the PLGA microfibers. Thus our experiments suggest that microfluidic chip-based PLGA microfiber fabrication may be useful for 3D cell culture tissue engineering applications.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 6845-6851 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Langmuir |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2008 Jul 1 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Spectroscopy
- Electrochemistry