Abstract:
To investigate the effects of gelatin and chitooligosaccharide conjugation into Thai silk fibroin scaffolds on the physical and biological properties of the scaffolds. Thai silk fibroin scaffolds were prepared via salt-leaching method resulting in smooth surface and interconnected porous network. The scaffolds were conjugated with blended gelatin and chitooligosaccharide solution. The weight blend ratios of gelatin and chitooligosaccharide were 100/0, 90/10, 80/20 and 70/30. Glutaraldehyde (GA) was used as the crosslinking agent at the concentration of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2% v/v. At 0.1% GA, the amount of gelatin and chitooligosaccharide conjugated into Thai silk fibroin scaffold was 28-29% leading to an increase in density and compressive modulus and a reduction in the porosity of scaffolds. The results of in vitro cell culture using rat bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells showed that the conjugated gelatin and chitoologosaccharide into the scaffolds effectively enhanced osteogenic differentiation as evaluated from alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium content and cell morphology. From these results, it could be concluded that Thai silk fibroin scaffolds modified by gelatin and chitooligosaccharide conjugation could promote osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells, especially at the weight blending ratio of gelatin/chitooligosaccharide 70/30.