Promoting cell growth on porous PLA microspheres through simple degradation methods

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) microspheres are widely used in the field of tissue engineering. However, cell adhesion and proliferation on PLA microspheres is limited due to the lack of hydrophilicity and cell recognition sites on microspheres surface. Current methods used to modify PLA microspheres are either complicated or expensive. Aminolysis and hydrolysis are two simple and economical degradation methods. However, up to now, there are few studies using aminolysis or hydrolysis to directly modify PLA microspheres and alter the cell growth behaviour on microspheres. In this study, aminolysis and hydrolysis were used to modify the surface of porous PLA microspheres. After the surface modification, PLA microspheres showed a finely porous structure. Cell culture experiments showed that the modification successfully made the surface of porous PLA microspheres more favourable for cell binding and growth. The increases of porosity, polar groups, hydrophilicity and roughness on microspheres surface were good to cell attachment and proliferation. This study shows that the aminolysis and hydrolysis are simple and effective methods to modify porous PLA microspheres for promoting cell grow on them. •Two degradation methods — hydrolysis and aminolysis were used to modify the surface of porous PLA microspheres.•The modified PLA microspheres were more favourable for cell binding and growth compared with original microspheres.•This study provides simple, economical and effective methods to modify porous PLA microspheres for their better application in tissue engineering.