Chitosan/vanillin/polydimethylsiloxane scaffolds with tunable stiffness for muscle cell proliferation

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Scaffold mechanical properties critically impact cell behavior.
• Chitosan and vanillin-crosslinked chitosan are promising biomaterials for tissue regeneration.
• Tailoring scaffold mechanics is essential for optimizing cell response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a methodology for producing chitosan and vanillin-crosslinked chitosan films with tunable mechanical properties.
• To investigate the influence of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer incorporation on scaffold mechanics.
• To evaluate the suitability of these scaffolds for C2C12 myoblast applications.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of aqueous PDMS elastomeric dispersions using polysorbate 20.
• Incorporation of PDMS dispersions into chitosan or vanillin-crosslinked chitosan polymeric dispersions.
• Fabrication of films via casting and characterization using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in force spectroscopy mode.
• Assessment of mechanical properties (elastic modulus), swelling degree, gel content, cell viability, and cell adhesion.

Main Results:

• PDMS incorporation successfully modulated the elastic modulus (E) of chitosan scaffolds (60–200 kPa) and vanillin-based scaffolds (200–600 kPa).
• Softer scaffolds exhibited higher swelling and lower gel content.
• Chitosan-PDMS scaffolds showed good cell viability and C2C12 myoblast adhesion across a range of elastic moduli (114–568 kPa).
• Vanillin-based scaffolds displayed borderline cytotoxicity (~70% viability).

Conclusions:

• A novel method for creating tunable mechanical property scaffolds from chitosan and vanillin-crosslinked chitosan was established.
• PDMS elastomer incorporation offers a viable strategy to control scaffold mechanics for tissue engineering applications.
• Chitosan-PDMS scaffolds demonstrate potential for C2C12 myoblast culture due to favorable mechanical properties and biocompatibility.