Evaluation of Smooth Muscle Cell Response Using Two Types of Porous Polylactide Scaffolds with Differing Pore Topography

The goal of tissue engineering is to create bioartificial tissues for the replacement of failed or nonfunctional tissue. Porous tissue-engineered scaffolds may be created through a solvent-casting/porogen-leaching technique. Almost exclusively, sodium chloride (NaCl) is the porogen of choice. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of porosity and pore size in cell adhesion and tissue development, yet the impact of porogen morphology and the chemical effect of porogen residual has not been fully explored. Poly-L-lactide (PLLA) scaffolds were manufactured by a solvent-casting, particulate-leaching method with either glucose or NaCl porogen in an effort to vary pore characteristics and, subsequently, cell adhesion and tissue development. Porogen influence on scaffold morphology and topography was compared via histological techniques and qualitative surface characteristics. Using an in vitro model, scaffolds were seeded with rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and evaluated over a 28-day period. Cell attachment and proliferation were subsequently evaluated. Results indicate that initial SMC attachment is higher for scaffolds manufactured with NaCl rather than glucose. The proliferation of SMCs was higher for scaffolds manufactured with glucose and, by day 28, scaffolds manufactured with glucose supported a higher cell population than those processed using NaCl porogen.