Cellular behaviors on the chitosan-coated porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) hybrid scaffolds modified by ion beams

Cellular behaviors of the porous hybrid scaffold were evaluated after irradiation of proton ion beam. The porous hybrid scaffold was fabricated by coating chitosan at a defined concentration on the porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) scaffold. Verification of existence of homogenous coating of chitosan in/on the porous PLGA scaffold was performed by digital camera. We further modified the porous hybrid scaffolds with the Bragg peak energies from the 10 MeV ion beams at 1.4 nA, and their chemical properties were evaluated with SEM and XPS. Energy distribution of the Bragg peaks was ranged from 0 to 1.083 J on the porous hybrid scaffolds, depending on their locations. Tissue regeneration of the chitosan-coated, porous hybrid scaffolds was evaluated after beam treatment by culturing porcine artery smooth muscle cells for the tests of both in vitro tissue regenerations over 8 weeks and for the evaluation of scaffold properties such as scaffold degradation and its cellular interactions. Cellular behaviors such as cell adhesion and proliferation were significantly different dependent on the conditions of beam treatments as verified by microscopy and assay with cell counting kit-8. Irradiation of higher beam energy seemed to induce better tissue regenerations on these chitosan-coated, porous hybrid scaffolds. Irradiation of the Bragg peak energies from the proton ion beams on the chitosan-coated, porous hybrid scaffolds might be a novel method for development of new biodegradable polymeric scaffolds for its applications in tissue engineering.