Suitable Materials for Soft Tissue Reconstruction: In Vitro Studies of Cell - Triblock Copolymer Interactions

Keratinocytes and fibroblasts have been grown onto a series of triblock copolymers based on 1,5-dioxepan-2-one (DXO) and L-lactide (LLA). The molar ratio of DXO and LLA were varied in the copolymers. This resulted in different degrees of hydrophilicity, which in turn influenced the cell growth. On these surfaces, the morphological appearance of the cells with their cell movements and growth were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy, time-lapse videomicroscopy and immunohistochemistry. All results clearly showed that the keratinocytes and fibroblasts adhered best to the most hydrophilic copolymers. A majority of the keratinocytes seeded on the most hydrophilic copolymer also presented a polarized morphology indicating a migration tendency. The cell growth onto these materials are interesting since a possible application for these unique materials is as polymeric membranes for guided cutaneous and/or periodontal tissue generation.