Design and Cytocompatibility of Chitosan-Based Thermoresponsive Cell Culture Plates

Background The aim of this study was to develop a novel thermoresponsive material suited for tissue engineering and investigate the growth and harmless detachment of cells cultured on the surface of thermoresponsive tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). Methods Thermoresponsive N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and biocompatible chitosan (CS) were grafted onto the surface of TCPS by ultraviolet (UV)–induced graft polymerization. The chemical composition, surface morphology and thermoresponsiveness of the modified TCPS were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atom force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle (CA), respectively. Furthermore, the growth and detachment behaviors of mouse fibroblast cells (L929) on the surface of the modified TCPS were studied by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results The modified TCPS exhibited good hydrophobic/hydrophilic property alterations in response to temperature. The cytocompatibility of the materials was improved due to the introduction of CS. Cells could be spontaneously detached from the surface without any damage, by controlling environmental temperature. The viability of cells obtained by temperature induction was higher than that obtained by enzymatic digestion. Conclusions This study developed a simple and economical method to fabricate thermoresponsive cell culture dishes and provided new thoughts and experimental bases for exploring novel material applied in tissue engineering.