Chitosan-silicate hybrids via sol-gel method for scaffold applications

Novel strategies for regenerating or reconstructing damaged bone tissues are of urgent necessity, because of limitations in conventional therapies for trauma, congenital defects, cancer, and other bone diseases. The tissue engineering approach to repair and regeneration is founded upon the use of biodegradable polymer scaffolds, which may manipulate bone cell functions, encourage the migration of bone cells from border areas to the defect site, and provide a source of inductive factors to support bone cell differentiation. During the past decades, scaffolds from natural biodegradable polymers such as collagen, gelatin, fibrin, and alginates, or synthetic biodegradable polymers such as polyglycolide, polylactides, and copolymers of glycolide with lactides have been extensively explored. On the other hand, it has been confirmed that the bonelike apatite layer, deposited spontaneously on the biomaterial surfaces, can enhance osteoconductivity. The presence of such bone-like apatite layers is also believed to be a prerequisite to conduction of osteogenic cells into various porous scaffolds or onto the surface of bioactive glasses. The formation of such bone-like apatite is favored by the cooperative behavior of a hydrated silica or titania gel surface with many Si-OH or Ti- OH groups, and calcium ions to be released into the body fluid when implanted. Thus, hybrid materials derived from the integration of biodegradable polymers with bioactive inorganic species may construct a new group of scaffolds appropriate for tissue engineering. Moreover, tissue engineering approach depends on the use of porous scaffolds that serve to support and reinforce the regenerating tissue. Controlled porous structures of these scaffolds allow cell attachment and migration, tissue generation, or vascularization. We have been studying the synthesis of novel chitosan-silicate hybrids derived from the integration of chitosan and γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS). We introduce some of the results on this hybrid for biomedical application.