Reticulated vitreous carbon: a useful material for cell adhesion and tissue invasion

Abstract

Diverse carbon materials have been used for tissue engineering and clinical implant applications with varying success. In this study, commercially available reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) foams were tested in vitro and in vivo for compatibility with primary cell adhesion and tissue repair. Pores sizes were determined as 279 ± 98 μm. No hydroxyapatite deposition was detected after immersion of the foams in simulated body fluid. Nonetheless, RVC provided an excellent support for adhesion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as well as primary chondrocytes without any surface pre-treatment. Live cell quantification revealed neutral behaviour of the material with plastic adhered chondrocytes but moderate cytotoxicity with MSCs. Yet, rabbit implanted foams exhibited good integration in subcutaneous pockets and most importantly, total defect repair in bone. Probably due to the stiffness of the material, incompatibility with cartilage regeneration was found. Interestingly and in contrast to several other carbon materials, we observed a total lack of foreign body reactions. Our results and its outstanding porous interconnectivity and availability within a wide range of pore sizes convert RVC into an attractive candidate for tissue engineering applications in a variety of bone models and for ex vivo cell expansion for regenerative medical applications.

Tantalum coating of porous carbon scaffold supplemented with autologous bone marrow stromal stem cells for bone regenerationin vitroandin vivo

“…43,44 Pec et al found that their RVC bought from Oakland, United States was cytotoxic for rabbit MSCs but not for rabbit chondrocytes. 24 In this work, we confirmed that there was no cytotoxicity for domestic RVC co-cultured with canine BMSCs. Meanwhile, confocal laser microscope and dynamic observation with SEM both showed more and more adherent and fully spread BMSCs appearing on the surface of RVC and in the pore of RVC.…”

“…23 Reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) containing more than 99% carbon element owns highly interconnected pores and honeycomb structure. 24 The microstructure and pore size of RVC is very similar to natural cancellous bone. In 2009, Aoki et al found that thin carbon fiber web as bone substitute materials with human bone morphogenetic protein-2 promoted the formation of new heterotopic bone in mice back muscles.…”

“…Four hours later, the MTT solution was removed, the formed formazan crystals were dissolved in 200 mL DMSO (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) for 10 min and absorbance was measured at 490 nm. 24 …”

Electrode materials for microbial fuel cells: nanomaterial approach

“…Carbon cloth, another similar material, showed a maximum power density of up to 483 mW/m 2 [32]. A three-dimensional, ultra-met, chemically and thermally resistant material called reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) was used by He et al This material was proven to be biocompatible as demonstrated by Pec et al using cell viability studies [33]. Carbon mesh electrodes were used by Wang and co-workers because of their low cost [34].…”

Bone growth on Reticulated Vitreous Carbon foam scaffolds and implementation of Cellular Automata modeling as a predictive tool

“…Furthermore, a study by Pec et al explored the use of RVC foam as a scaffold for tissue applications. However, the study was limited to only one type of foam sample, limiting the possible conclusions [23]. Results from this study indicated cellular attachment with minimal cytotoxicity.…”