Genipin-crosslinked electrospun collagen nanofibers

Tissue engineering deals with creating tissues, using patient-derived cells, in order to restore, maintain or improve existing tissue function. In traditional tissue engineering, tissues are grown in-vitro prior to insertion in the body, and thus a scaffold is needed to support and guide the cells during growth. Nanofibrous scaffolds are considered promising since they mimic the extracellular matrix, have a high surface area-to-volume ratio, and possess excellent porosity and pore interconnectivity. In this research collagen type I nanofibers were fabricated using electrospinning. Collagen nanofibers were unstable in aqueous environments, and thus crosslinking was required. Glutaraldehyde, which is cytotoxic to cells, is currently the chemical crosslinking agent used by most research groups to stabilize collagen nanofibers. In this thesis, a novel approach, using genipin (a natural crosslinking agent), was introduced to crosslink the electrospun collagen nanofibers. Genipin has been proven to be significantly less cytotoxic compared to glutaraldehyde.

Name thesis:degree_name

MES

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biomedical Engineering

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Mekhail, Mina

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Wan., Wankei

• Tissue engineering
• electrospinning
• nanofibers
• collagen
• genipin
• crosslinking

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/19290

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/19290