Glutaraldehyde and oxidised dextran as crosslinker reagents for chitosan-based scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering.

Chitosan crosslinked with glutaraldehyde or oxidised dextran was studied as a potential scaffold material in tissue engineering for cartilage regeneration. By mixing two solutions of both components it became a gel, which was frozen. After lyophilization a scaffold was generated with interconnected pores with diameters ranging between 120-350 microm. The mechanical properties (yielding point, elastic and viscous moduli), absolute porosity, pore morphology were determined depending on the ratio of chitosan to crosslinker. ATDC5 (murine cell line) and bovine articular chondrocytes (primary cells) were cultured for 14 days on the scaffolds. Cultivation with ATDC5 cells and bovine chondrocytes showed no negative influence of glutaraldehyde on cell vitality and growth.