Fabrication of Blended Gelatin–Polyvinyl Alcohol–Chitosan Scaffold for Wound Regeneration

Abstract

A single type polymer had very limited function and property which was not enough to be applied in the complex real situation. This study aimed to prepare the composited scaffolds by blending the gelatin, polyvinyl alcohol and chitosan together. The blended scaffolds were fabricated by making the final concentration of 7% gelatin, 0.5 % PVA and 0.1% chitosan and crosslinking by glutaraldehyde. The Young’s modulus was investigated by using atomic force microscopy ( AFM). The pore size was investigated using the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The swelling rate of scaffolds were tested by water displacement method. The degradation rate of the scaffolds was studied using lysozyme digestion. The MTT assay was applied within this study in order to find out the relative cell viability upon culturing with the gelatin and the blended scaffolds compared to tissue culture plates. Collagen type IV expression was investigated in mouse fibroblasts cultured on both scaffolds for 10 days using real time PCR. The results showed that Young’s moduli of gelatin and blended scaffold were 53.30±26.80 kPa and 98.01±17.50 kPa, respectively. The average pore size of gelatin and blended scaffolds were 336.33±52.25 μm and 68.17±8.91 μm, respectively. The sample’s porosity of gelatin and blended scaffolds were 85. 41±2. 11% and 21. 48±1. 01%, respectively. The swelling rate and the degradation rate of gelatin scaffold were higher than blended scaffold. The MTT assay showed that the blended scaffold supported cell proliferation better than gelatin scaffold. Collagen type IV expression of mouse fibroblasts cultured on blended scaffolds was higher than gelatin scaffolds. In conclusion, these results illustrated that blended scaffolds were able to provide a better environment for fibroblast proliferation and collagen type IV expression.