Lipophilic drugs encapsulation in gradient format for tissue engineering applications

• Main Author: Chen, Grace Jing Ya.
• Other Authors: Chew Sing Yian
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Medicine::Tissue engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/39812
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The usage of electrospinning to encapsulate drugs that are particularly useful in the differentiation of stem cells has gained attention recently. The drug used in this research is Retinoic acid, which regulates cell growth, homeostasis, and differentiation and is essential in the reversal of malignant cell growth in vitro and in vivo. With a continuous sustained drug release from the polymer matrix formed out of the electrospinning, this can enable the continuous differentiation of the target cells and possibly advance cancer research. The purpose of this research was to establish a robust drug release system of the drug retinoic acid through the investigation of various parameters like applied velocity and polymer concentration to produce a scaffold that would allow for a sustained continuous drug release of bioactive Retinoic acid. Through the research done, it was observed that through varying the applied voltage for scaffolds of different polymer concentrations, there are applied voltages that will yield the scaffolds with the most even diameter and with no beads. From there, it was discovered that 12wt% PCL without gelatin 5-1 TFE-PBS polymer solution yields a scaffold that is able to release loaded Retinoic acid most consistently out of other polymer solutions like 12wt% PCL with gelatin 5-1 TFE-PBS and 8wt% PCL with gelatin 5-1 TFE-PBS. The drug loaded maintained a drug release profile for more than 40 days. This is essential in ensuring that the drug can be released for a sufficient amount of time for stem cells to undergo differentiation.