Immobilized hepatocyte spheroids on galactose ligand-conjugated nanofiber scaffold

Abstract

The effect of nanofiber scaffold on hepatocyte attachment, migration, spheroid formation and maintenance if the differentiated functions was analyzed. A hepatocyte specific nanofiber scaffold was synthesized by conjugating 1-O-(6'-aminohexyl)-D-galactopyranoside (AHG) galactose ligands to the poly(acrylic acid) grafted polycaprolactone (PCL)-co- ethylethylene phosphate (EEP) nanofiber mesh. It was found that hepatocytes cultured on galactosylated PCL-co-EEP nanofiber scaffolds and thin film substrates exhibited similarly high hepatocyte attachment (~80-90%). The results show that the nanofiber scaffolds exhibits unique properties of promoting hepatocyte aggregates within the spaces and around the fiber.