Cultivo de céulas-tronco mesenquimais humanas em matrizes de suporte à base de quitosana

Abstract

Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field in order to development of biological substitutes with interact with damage tissue support in their repair and regeneration, restoring their function. Chitosan (Ch), a naturally derived polymer, is a suitable functional biomaterial because it is biocompatible, biodegradable, immunogenic, nontoxic, furthermore it has important functional groups wich enable their cross-linking, as well as its association with other polymers. One of the most promising areas of research utilizing chitosan and gelatin membranes involves the use of stem cells, cells which are capable of self-regeneration and differentiation into one or more types of specialized cells. Our aim was to develop membranes from chitosan and gelatin association, crosslinked or non-crosslinked with glutaraldehyde or sodium tripolyphosphate to assist in regeneration with damaged tissue, using tissue engineering principles. Chitosan-gelatin membranes were produced by solvent evaporation technique and crosslinking by glutaraldehyde and TPP. Membranes were characterized (scanning electron microscopy, water absorption capacity, enzymatic degradation, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mechanical properties). Human adipose-derived stem cells (hASC) were cultured on the membranes, were analyzed its viability, morphology, adhesion and differentiation capacity this cells; in vivo biocompatibility were evaluation using Lewis rats model. Crosslinked or non-crosslinked with glutaraldehyde or TPP membranes, we present thin, transparent and dense, with uniform, smooth and plane surface, the glutaraldehyde crosslinked membranes showed lower water uptake and slower degradation, comparing with others membranes; were observed spectra with characteristic peaks of chitosan and gelatin in all membranes; the crosslinking changes the mechanical properties of the membranes. The membranes of chitosan-gelatin produced were effective in promoting of hASC adhesion, with maintaining its preserved morphology, and had an increased viability in the evaluated times, with present differentiation potential into adipocytes and osteocyte, additionally, after implantation was observerd for all membranes, an foreing body response. Our results demonstrate that chitosan and gelatin are a potential polymers in the development of new scaffolds for use in tissue engineering.