BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER SCAFFOLDS FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING

Synthetic polymer scaffolds designed for cell transplantation were rep roducibly made on a large scale and studied with respect to biocompati bility, structure and biodegradation rate. Polyglycolic acid (PGA) was extruded and oriented to form 13 mu m diameter fibers with desired te nacity. Textile processing techniques were used to produce fibrous sca ffolds with a porosity of 97% and sufficient structural integrity to m aintain their dimensions when seeded with isolated cartilage cells (ch ondrocytes) and cultured in vitro at 37 degrees C for 8 weeks. Cartila ginous tissue consisting of glycosaminoglycan and collagen was regener ated in the shape of the original PGA scaffold. The resulting cell-pol ymer constructs were the largest grown in vitro to date (1 cm diameter x 0.35 cm thick). Construct mass was accurately predicted by accounti ng for accumulation of tissue components and scaffold degradation. The scaffold induced chondrocyte differentiation with respect to morpholo gy and phenotype and represents a model cell culture substrate that ma y be useful for a variety of tissue engineering applications.