Lactose Modified Chitosan Scaffold for Hepatocytes Culture

Abstract

The chitosan scaffold we prepared have a high porosity of about 90% with pore sizes from 50 to 200m. Lactose was conjugated onto the inner surface of the highly porous chitosan scaffold. It was used as substrate for rat hepatocytes culture. The cell attachment ratio was much higher than on monolayer membrane and non-modified porous scaffold. Metabolic activities of the cells were evaluated in terms of albumin secretion and urea synthesis. It was found that hepatocytes cultured on the modified scaffolds showed an increase in albumin secretion during the first 4 days and were more stable than that on non-modified scaffold. The results showed that the microstructure of porous scaffolds provides large surface for cells to adhere and facilitates nutrient and oxygen transportation. Such lactose modified scaffold has a potential application in bioartificial liver support system.