Synthesis of Layered, Graded Bioscaffolds - Structural Interfaces and Attachments in Biology - page 354

Fig. 16.9 ( a ) CG-membrane scaffolds support significantly higher TC number at day 1 ( n ¼ 6)
and similar cell number at days 7 and 14 ( n ¼ 6) compared to CG scaffolds. Both groups show
large increases in TC number from day 1 to day 7 and from day 7 to day 14. ( b ) CG scaffolds
display higher TC metabolic activity at day 1 ( n ¼ 18), significantly higher bioactivity at day 7
( n ¼ 12), and higher TC metabolic activity at day 14 ( n ¼ 6). Both groups show large increases in
TC metabolic activity from day 1 to day 7. Error bars: Mean SD. (Reproduced, with permission,
from Caliari et al. [ 1 ])
agreement of the experimental results with the theoretical predictions indicates
that the core-shell scaffolds behave like layered composites, implying adequate
integration of the membrane with the scaffold (Fig. 16.6c )[ 1 ].
Finally, the capability of CG scaffold-membrane composites to support tendon
cell (TC) attachment, proliferation, and long-term viability was assessed. TC
metabolic activity and number were measured over a 14-day in vitro culture period
in aligned CG scaffolds with (CG-membrane) and without (CG) membrane shells
(Fig. 16.9 )[ 1 ]. Early (1 day) results demonstrated that addition of the membrane
shell did not significantly affect metabolic activity ( p ¼ 0.10) (Fig. 16.9b ). Inter-
estingly, cell number was significantly increased in CG-membrane scaffolds
(Fig. 16.9a ). This is likely due to the effect of the dense membrane shell in
preventing the cell solution from leaking out of the porous scaffold after seeding.
This hypothesis is corroborated by previous work demonstrating that collagen
membrane wraps can effectively keep nutrients and soluble factors localized to