There is an increased demand to develop scaffolds for tissue engineering (TE) applications to culture viable human tissues outside the body that must mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM). These scaffolds are typically 3D porous structures designed to provide the structural support for cell attachment and subsequent tissue development.

In our bodies, a 3D network termed “extracellular matrix” (ECM) is a physical scaffold for cells. The ECM is a part of all our body’s tissues and consists mostly of proteins (collagen, elastin, fibronectin), glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), and proteoglycans (PGs). Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer, derived from natural resources, and a suitable substrate that modulates cell behavior during tissue regeneration, through unique interactions with glucosamine glycans (GAGs) of human tissue and proteoglycan (PG) components. Additionally, chitin offers many desired properties such as biocompatibility, minimal inflammatory response, suitability for cellular attachment, proliferation and differentiation, biodegradability, and mechanical strength. It also promotes the proliferation of fibroblasts, dermal granulation, and vascularization when implanted into the body.

We will present our efforts on determining microstructure-property relationships of solution-processed chitin TE constructs with various chitin contents and types and revealing correlations between porousness, pore size, and other microarchitectural features of chitin constructs, depending on chitin type (macro-, micro- or nano- crystalline form), its molecular weight (high-, low-, nano-), solvent nature, types of crosslinkers and porogens used, and drying techniques (supercritical drying sc-CO₂, lyophilization with various freezing temperatures: -20^oC, -196^oC, directional drying, etc.).

Turna Basak

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