Fabrication and evaluation of porous 2,3-dialdehydecellulose membrane as a potential biodegradable tissue-engineering scaffold

A simple, novel method to produce porous 2,3‐dialdehydecellulose (DAC) membranes as a potential tissue‐engineering scaffold has been developed from methylolcellulose by the simultaneous water‐induced phase separation and sodium chloride salt leaching techniques, followed by oxidation with sodium periodate in water. Membrane pores increased in size with increasing weight or particle size of the sodium chloride salt. The porosity of the membrane was not affected by the salt particle size, but it increased with an increase in the salt weight to 60%. At higher salt weight percentages, no significant change in the membrane porosity was observed. The oxidation step had no effect on the membrane porosity or pore size. All membranes with a porosity value ranging between 87 and 93% showed interconnected porous structures. The use of these membranes as a potential tissue‐engineering scaffold was evaluated with the use of human neonatal skin fibroblast cells. Confocal microscopy showed cell attachment and spreading on these membranes. Immunohistochemical tests revealed the presence of collagen type III and fibronectin, indicating that the cells were viable and formed the extracellular matrix. In conclusion, the DAC membrane supports cell adhesion and proliferation and hence shows potential to be used as a tissue‐engineering scaffold. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2006