Bioengineering of Dental Pulp Stem Cells in a Microporous PNIPAAm-PLGA Scaffold

Abstract

In the present article a novel bio absorbable polymeric scaffold using poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-block-poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PNIPAAm-b-PLGA) copolymers is developed for in vitro culture of human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs). The processing of porous scaffolds has been carried out by emulsion freeze-drying and salt leaching out methods. DPSCs were cultured on scaffolds for up to 14 days. The morphology of the scaffolds, cell viability and interaction between DPSCs and scaffold was characterized by using SEM. The results of cells implantation indicated that scaffold has good cell biocompatibility. Therefore PNIPAAm-PLGA scaffolds have great potential to be used as cell carrier in tissue engineering.