Development of porous alginate-based scaffolds covalently cross-linked through a peroxidase-catalyzed reaction

Porous scaffolds are important in tissue engineering. We developed porous scaffolds from the hydrogels of an alginate derivative bearing phenolic hydroxyl groups. The hydrogels were prepared using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to catalyze the cross-linking between the phenolic hydroxyl groups. A porous structure with a pore size of approx. 200 μm was developed through simultaneous water-extraction and ionic cross-linking by calcium ions by soaking frozen hydrogels in the mixture of ethanol and CaCl2 solution at -20°C. Due to the existence of the covalent cross-links developed through the enzymatic reaction, the porous form had a higher stability from a loss of cross-linked calcium ions than that obtained from non-modified sodium alginate (Na-Alg). The porous specimen developed from the hydrogel obtained with 10 U/ml HRP and 10 mM H2O2 showed about 1.5-times greater repulsion forces than those detected for the porous specimen obtained from Na-Alg toward compressions. No harmful effects of the enzymatically cross-linked specimens were detected on the growth and morphology of the entrapped cells: cells in the enzymatically cross-linked specimens showed almost the same growth profile and morphology with those in the porous specimen obtained from Na-Alg.