Effect of crosslinking methods on the structure and biocompatibility of polyvinyl alcohol/gelatin cryogels

In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and gelatin based cryogels were prepared by crosslinking chemically or physically for tissue engineering applications. Different PVA/Gelatin ratios (100:0, 90:10, 70:30, 50:50) and crosslinking methods have been used to prepare cryogels; chemical and physical structure of the prepared matrices were analysed by FTIR and SEM; swelling and degradation profiles were followed. Chemical and physical crosslinking was obtained by using glutaraldehyde as crosslinker and by applying freeze thawing cycle, respectively. Gelatin concentration and crosslinking method had significant effect on the pore size, swelling ratio and degradation profiles of the cryogels. Biocompatibility of the cryogels were also investigated by MTT assay. SEM was used to investigate the cell morphology on the scaffolds. The MTT assay findings prove that physically crosslinked PVA/Gelatin scaffolds are more biocompatible and enhance more the adhesion and proliferation of mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (MEF) than chemically crosslinked PVA/Gelatin scaffolds. The overall results demonstrated that, the PVA/Gelatin cyrogels as a suitable biomaterial for tissue engineering applications and crosslinking methods affect the architecture and characteristic properties of the cryogels.