Facile fabrication of the glutaraldehyde cross-linked collagen/chitosan porous scaffold for skin tissue engineering

Porous scaffold is one of the key factors in skin tissue engineering. In this study, a facile method was developed to prepare the glutaraldehyde (GA) cross-linked collagen/chitosan porous scaffold (S2). The properties of S2 were compared with the scaffolds prepared by the traditional method (S1). Compared to the rough surface and collapsed inner structure of S1, S2 showed a smooth surface and controlled size. After treated by GA with same concentration, S1 and S2 showed the similar swelling ratios, which are big enough to ensure the nutrient supply in the early stage of wound healing. The effects of the fabrication methods as well as the GA concentration on the cross-linking degree and in vitro degradation degree of the scaffolds were studied. It was found that the cross-linking degree of S2-0.25% was much higher than that of S1. Investigation of the tensile and compression properties of the scaffolds found that the mechanical property of S2-0.04% is closest to that of S1. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was applied to determine the residual GA. The results proved that, compared to water rinse, oven drying is a feasible and effective method to remove the residual GA. Finally, the cytocompatibility of S2 was evaluated by in vitro culture of fibroblasts. The results of cell morphology and cell viability proved that S2-0.04% could retain the original good cytocompatibility of S1 to accelerate cell infiltration and proliferation effectively. All these results indicate that it is a feasible method to prepare the GA cross-linked collagen/chitosan scaffold.