STABILIZED POLYGLYCOLIC ACID FIBER BASED TUBES FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING

Polyglycolic acid (PGA) fibre meshes are attractive candidates to tran splant cells, but they are incapable of resisting significant compress ional forces. To stabilize PGA meshes, atomized solutions of poly(L-la ctic acid) (PLLA) and a 50/50 copolymer of poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) dissolved in chloroform were sprayed over meshes formed into hollow tubes. The PLLA and PLGA coated the PGA fibres and physica lly bonded adjacent fibres. The pattern and extent of bonding was cont rolled by the concentration of polymer in the atomized solution and th e total mass of polymer sprayed on the device. The compression resista nce of devices increased with the extent of bonding, and PLLA bonded t ubes resisted larger compressive forces than PLGA bonded tubes. Tubes bonded with PLLA degraded more slowly than devices bonded with PLGA. I mplantation of PLLA bonded tubes into rats revealed that the devices m aintained their structure during fibrovascular tissue ingrowth, result ing in the formation of a tubular structure with a central lumen. The potential of these devices to engineer specific tissues was exhibited by the finding that smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells seeded o nto devices in vitro formed a tubular tissue with appropriate cell dis tribution.