Three-dimensional duck’s feet collagen/PLGA scaffold for chondrification: role of pore size and porosity

AbstractAn ideal tissue-engineered scaffold must provide sufficient porosity to allow free movement of cells, nutrients, and oxygen for proper cell growth and further maintenance. Owing to variation in pore sizes and shapes of as-fabricated scaffold, the amount of oxygen available for the cells attached to the scaffold and transfer of by-products and excrement will be different, which ultimately results in cell activity. Thus, optimizing pore size and porosity of a scaffold for a specific tissue regeneration are one of the key highlights, which should be considered while designing a scaffold as well as choosing a specific cell type. In this study, three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds based on blends of duck’s feet collagen (DC) and poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) with different pore sizes i.e. 90–180, 180–250, 250–355 and 355–425 μm were prepared using solvent casting/salt leaching approach and examined its effects on chondrification. The morphological analysis of the as-fabricated scaffolds was perform...