Culture of hepatocytes on fructose-modified chitosan scaffolds

Fructose was conjugated onto the inner surface of highly porous chitosan scaffold prepared by lyophilization. The modified scaffold with average pore size 50-200 microm was used to cultivate rat hepatocytes harvested by portal vein collagenase perfusion. The results indicated that while chitosan sponge alone supported cell attachment and growth, the scaffold modified with fructose accommodated a much larger number of hepatocytes due to the specific interaction between seeded hepatocytes and fructose moieties conjugated onto the surface of the scaffold. Hepatocytes exhibited a round cellular morphology with many microvilli evident on the surface of the cells, indicating healthy cells. Metabolic activities in terms of albumin secretion and urea synthesis were evaluated. It was found that hepatocytes cultured within fructose-modified scaffold resulted in much higher activities than within unmodified chitosan sponge. Scanning electron microscopy results showed that fructose-modified porous scaffold promoted the formation of cellular aggregates.