Preparation and Characterization of HA/Gel/β-TCP Microspheres Composite Porous Scaffold

Being one of the three elements of tissue engineering, three-dimensional porous structure scaffold plays an important role in tissue engineering. As it not only provides cells for the life, but also serves as a template to guide tissue regeneration and control of organizational structure and other functions. In this study, hyaluronic acid and gelatin were successfully cross-linked by 1-ethyl- (3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), and compounded β-TCP microspheres to prepare porous hydrogel scaffolds. The microspheres were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). At the same time, the compressive strength, swelling ratio, degradation of the scaffold were tested. To assess the in vitro cell compatibility of the scaffolds, mouse L929 fibroblasts were seeded into scaffolds for cell morphology and cell viability studies. The experimental results show that the pore size of the porous scaffold can be adjusted by changing the ratio of gelatin to hyaluronic acid (HA), increasing the proportion of hyaluronic acid in a certain range, pore size will be significantly increased. With the increase of the proportion of hyaluronic acid in the scaffold, the swelling ratio and the degradation rate also increase. The compressive strength of the scaffold increase with the increase of the proportion of gelatin. The appropriate amount of β-TCP can promote cell growth and proliferation.