Effect of cell seeding methods on the distribution of cells into the gelatin hydrogel nonwoven fabric.

Abstract

Recently, as one trial to enhance the biological functions of cells, several attempts have been performed to allow cells to interact in a three dimension (3D) manner. To do that, it is of prime importance to achieve a homogeneous distribution and proliferation of cells in 3D scaffolds, which affects the biological functions of cells [1]. The researches of 3D cell culture scaffolds have been extensively reported while several materials with different inner structures have been prepared from synthetic polymers, natural polymers, and bioceramics [2]. There have been reported on 3D scaffolds with various inner structures [3], such as sponge [4], 3D printer structure [5], fiber (including nanofiber) [6], woven fabric [7], non-woven fabric [8], and a braid [9]. Among them the effect of seeding methods on the cell distribution has been evaluated to hydrogel scaffolds [10,11]. For the hydrogel scaffolds reported so far, the mechanical property is too poor to allow cells to seed homogeneously in the scaffolds [12]. As a trial to break through the issue, the hydrogel of gelatin non-woven fabrics has been explored to demonstrate a homogeneous proliferation of cells in the non-woven fabric [13]. This study is undertaken to evaluate the effect of cell seeding methods on the proliferation and distribution of cells in the gelatin hydrogel non-woven fabrics (GHNF). We examine the proliferation behavior of cells and their membrane damage based on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity after different cell seedings.