The biodegradability of electrospun Dextran/PLGA scaffold in a fibroblast/macrophage co-culture

Abstract

Fibroblast and macrophage are two dominant cell types respond cooperatively to degrade implanted biomaterials. Using an electrospun Dextran/Poly-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) scaffold as a model, an in vitro fibroblast/macrophage co-culture system was developed to investigate the degradability of implantable biodegradable materials. SEM showed that both fibroblasts and macrophages were able to degrade the scaffold, separately or cooperatively. Under the synergistic coordination of macrophages and fibroblasts, scaffolds showed faster degradation rate than their counterparts incubated with a single type of cells as well as in PBS or cell culture medium. Lysozyme, non-specific esterase (NSE), gelatinase, hyaluronidase-1 and α-glucosidase were upregulated in the presence of the scaffold, suggesting their roles in the cell-mediated scaffold degradation. In addition, the expressions of cell surface receptors CD204 and Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) were elevated one week after cell seeding, implying that these receptors might be involved in scaffold degradation. The results of in vivo subdermal implantation of the scaffold further confirmed the biodegradability of the Dextran/PLGA scaffold. The fibroblast/macrophage co-culture model adequately mimicked the in vivo environment and could be further developed into an in vitro tool for initial biomaterial evaluation.

Macrophage-mediated erosion of gamma irradiated poly(trimethylene carbonate) films

“…However, only few studies have focused on macrophage-mediated degradation of biodegradable polymers used in short term applications like drug delivery or tissue engineering [11][12][13].…”

Gene expression profile of mouse fibroblasts exposed to a biodegradable iron alloy for stents

“…Fibroblasts were chosen for their implication in extracellular matrix formation, an important feature in neointima formation. In addition, foreign materials, when implanted in an organism, often become encapsulated into collagenous structures and fibroblasts obviously play an active role in this process [24].…”

Efficient inhibition of ovarian cancer by short hairpin RNA targeting claudin-3

“…nanoparticles based on plgA have been suggested as an ideal carrier for gene therapy (39). Besides the biodegradability and biocompatibility (40), nanoparticles are relatively easy to manipulate enabling us to prepare nps with desired size and release profile from days to months by regulating the ratio of lactic acid to glycolic acid in copolymer and other variables to meet various needs. Here, we adopted plgA nps for gene delivery and prepared plgA nps with a mean particle size about 200 nm.…”