Open Access

ARTICLE

Elaboration of Materials with Functionality Gradients by Assembly of Chitosan-Collagen Microspheres Produced by Microfluidics

David Azria^1,2, Raluca Guermache^1,2, Sophie Raisin¹, Sébastien Blanquer¹, Frédéric Gobeaux³, Marie Morille¹, Emmanuel Belamie^1,2,*

1 ICGM-MACS, UMR 5253 CNRS-ENSCM-UM, Charles Gerhardt Institute Montpellier, 8 rue de l’Ecole normale, 34296 Montpellier cedex 5, France
2 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, 75014 Paris, France
3 LIONS—NIMBE CEA, CNRS, University of Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

*Corresponding author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2018, 6(3), 314-324. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2017.634186

Abstract

Biopolymers extracted from renewable resources like chitosan and collagen exhibit interesting properties for the elaboration of materials designed for tissue engineering applications, among which are their hydrophilicity, biocompatibility and biodegradability. In many cases, functional recovery of an injured tissue or organ requires oriented cell outgrowth, which is particularly critical for nerve regeneration. Therefore, there is a growing interest for the elaboration of materials exhibiting functionalization gradients able to guide cells. Here, we explore an original way of elaborating such gradients by assembling particles from a library of functionalized microspheres. We propose a simple process to prepare chitosan-collagen hybrid microspheres by micro- and milli-fluidics, with adaptable dimensions and narrow size distributions. The adhesion and survival rate of PC12 cells on hybrid microspheres were compared to those on pure chitosan ones. Finally, functionalized microspheres were assembled into membranes exhibiting a functionalization gradient.

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Keywords

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