In vitro dorsal root ganglia viability in a mimetic nerve guidance conduit environment

POLY 503

Jeremy Griffin, griffinj@eden.rutgers.edu1, Minjung Song1, Ashley L. Carbone, acarbon@rci.rutgers.edu2, and Kathryn Uhrich, uhrich@rutchem.rutgers.edu3. (1) Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University, 599 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, (2) Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, (3) Department of Chemistry, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8087
Engineered nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) are promising alternatives to autograft nerve for tissue regeneration. In this work, an implantable conduit composed of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) based - poly(anhydride-ester) (PAE) will support and align regenerating cells and prevent glial scar formation. Experiments are designed to evaluate the biocompatibility of a NGC fabricated with both salicylic acid and diflunisal based-PAEs in an environment similar to in vivo regenerative conditions. Dorsal root ganglia isolated from chick embryos were cultured for 7 days in a three dimensional collagen network on top of the polymer surface. Neurite outgrowth within the mimetic environment was observed and measured on day 1, 4 and 7. This collagen gel-polymer system allows for the evaluation of the neuron biocompatibility in various NSAID based NGCs.
 

Scaffolds and Matrices for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Applications
6:00 PM-8:00 PM, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster

Division of Polymer Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007