Scaffolding for challenging environments: materials selection for tissue engineered intestine

Novel therapies are crucially needed for short bowel syndrome. One potential therapy is the production of tissue engineered intestine (TEI). The intestinal environment presents significant challenges to the selection of appropriate material for tissue engineering scaffolds. Our goal was to characterize different scaffold materials to downselect to that best suited for TEI production. To investigate this, various tubular scaffolds were implanted into the peritoneal cavity of adult rats and harvested at multiple time-points. Harvested scaffolds were examined histologically and subjected to degradation studies and mechanical evaluation. We found that poly(glycolic acid) (PGA)-nanofiber and PGA-macrofiber scaffolds exhibited early robust tissue infiltration. Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL)-nanofiber, poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA)-nanofiber, poly(d-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PDLGA)-nanofiber and polyurethane (PU)-nanofiber experienced slower tissue infiltration. Poly(ɛ-caprolactone-co-lactic acid) (PLC) nanofiber had poor tissue infiltration. Significant weight loss was observed in PGA-nanofiber (92.2%), PGA-macrofiber (67.6%), and PDLGA-nanofiber (76.9%) scaffolds. Individual fibers were no longer seen by scanning electron microscopy in PLC-nanofiber and PGA-nanofiber scaffolds after 1 week, PGA-macrofiber scaffolds after 2 weeks, and PDLGA-nanofiber scaffolds after 4 weeks. In conclusion, PGA-macrofiber and PDLGA appear to be the most appropriate materials choices as TEI scaffolds due to their biocompatibility and degradation. Future experiments will confirm these results by analyzing cell-seeded scaffolds in vitro and in vivo.