Fabrication of 3D alginate scaffold with interconnected pores using wire-network molding technique

• DOI: 10.1007/s13770-013-0366-8
• Publication Date: 2013-03-31T23:45:58Z
• Authors: Se-Hwan Lee; A. Ra Jo; Ghi Pyoung Choi; Chang Hee Woo; Seung Jae Lee; Beom-Su Kim; Hyung-Keun You; Young-Sam Cho
• Keywords: Molding (decorative)

In this study, we fabricated 3D porous scaffold by ‘Wire-Network Molding’ technique with alginate gel which has been used for cartilage regeneration because of the chemical similarity. Firstly, prepared ETPCS-S wires with size of rectangular cross section 600 μm by 600 μm, 400 μm by 400 μm, respectively, and the wires are inserted in designed mold. Secondly, sterilized 2 wt% alginate gel within hMSC (human Mesenchymal stem cell) was injected into the assembled mold. The concentration of hMSC in the used alginate gel is about 5000 cells per scaffold. For the gelation of alginate gel, the mold was soaked in 5 wt% CaCl2 solution for 5 min. Subsequently, wires are separated from the mold and the mold is removed from alginate gel. Consequently, the remained alginate scaffold has interconnected pores with a configuration of wire-network. Additionally, to analyze the cell-culturing characteristics, 1-day, 3-day, and 7-day cultured scaffolds which encapsulate hMSC are assessed using MTS assay. Consequently, the optical density of 400 μm-WNM scaffolds and 600 μm-WNM scaffolds are clearly more increased than control scaffolds without pores.