Effects of Chitosan on Properties of Novel Human-like Collagen/Chitosan Hybrid Vascular Scaffold

Novel human-like collagen (HLC)/chitosan hybrid scaffolds were fabricated at blend ratios of 0%, 0.02%, 0.2% by crosslinking and freeze-drying process. The properties of the scaffolds were investigated, including morphology, mechanical strength, degradability, and cell biocompatibility. When the blend ratio was 0.02%, the morphology of the scaffolds was highly homogeneous with interconnected porous structure 46 ± 9 μm in size (SEM). The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated intermolecular crosslinks between HLC and chitosan. The strain and stress of the scaffolds were 37.9 ± 3.3% and 309.7 ± 19.7 KPa, respectively. Human venous fibroblasts were expanded and seeded into the scaffolds in the density of 1 × 10 5 cells/cm 3 under static conditions. The cell morphology and proliferation were investigated using SEM, H&E, and MTT assay, which showed that the optimal content of the chitosan was signifcantly enhanced the cells adhesion, proliferation, and viability, compared to pure HLC, pure chitosan, and 0.2% chitosan/HLC scaffolds. These hybrid scaffolds appear to have favorable characteristics for vascular tissue engineering application.