Preparation and characterization of genipin-crosslinked rat acellular spinal cord scaffolds

• Published in: Materials Science & Engineering C 2013-08, Vol.33 (6), p.3514-3521
• Main Authors: Jiang, Tao, Ren, Xian-Jun, Tang, Jin-Liang, Yin, Hong, Wang, Kai-Jian, Zhou, Chang-Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acellular spinal cord scaffold; Animals; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Biocompatible Materials - toxicity; Cell Adhesion; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cells, Cultured; Chemical crosslinking; Elastic Modulus; Genipin; Glutaral - chemistry; Iridoids - chemistry; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells - cytology; Porosity; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Spinal Cord - chemistry; Spinal Cord - pathology; Tissue Engineering; Tissue Scaffolds
• ISSN: 0928-4931; 1873-0191
• DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2013.04.046

The feasibility of rat acellular spinal cord scaffolds for tissue engineering applications was investigated. Fresh rat spinal cords were decellularized and crosslinked with genipin (GP) to improve their structural stability and mechanical properties. The GP-crosslinked spinal cord scaffolds possessed a porous structure with an average pore diameter of 31.1μm and a porosity of 81.5%. The resultant scaffolds exhibited a water uptake ratio of 229%, and moderate in vitro degradation rates of less than 5% in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and slightly more than 20% in trypsin-containing buffer, within 14days. The ultimate tensile strength and elastic modulus of GP-crosslinked spinal cord scaffolds were determined to be 0.193±0.064MPa and 1.541±0.082MPa, respectively. Compared with glutaraldehyde (GA)-crosslinked acellular spinal cord scaffolds, GP-crosslinked scaffolds demonstrated similar microstructure and mechanical properties but superior biocompatibility as indicated by cytotoxicity evaluation and rat mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) adhesion behavior. Cells were able to penetrate throughout the crosslinked scaffold due to the presence of an interconnected porous structure. The low cytotoxicity of GP facilitated cell proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) secretion in vitro on the crosslinked scaffolds over 7days. Thus, these GP-crosslinked spinal cord scaffolds show great promise for tissue engineering applications. •We prepared a modified acellular spinal cord scaffold by crosslinking with genipin.•Genipin-crosslinked scaffold possessed a good 3-dimension porous structure.•Structural stability and mechanical property of scaffold were enhanced by genipin-crosslinking.•Genipin-crosslinked scaffold demonstrated superior biocompatibility.•Genipin-crosslinked scaffold show great promise for tissue engineering applications.