TY  - EJOU
AU  - Azria, David 
AU  - Guermache, Raluca 
AU  - Raisin, Sophie 
AU  - Blanquer, Sébastien 
AU  - Gobeaux, Frédéric 
AU  - Morille, Marie 
AU  - Belamie, Emmanuel 

TI  - Elaboration of Materials with Functionality Gradients by Assembly of Chitosan-Collagen Microspheres Produced by Microfluidics
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2018
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - 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.
KW  - Hybrid microspheres
KW  -  biomaterials
KW  -  chitosan
KW  -  collagen
KW  -  functionality gradient
KW  -  nerve regeneration
KW  -  microfluidics

DO  - 10.7569/JRM.2017.634186