Incorporation of protein-loaded microspheres into chitosan-polycaprolactone scaffolds for controlled release

Chitosan microspheres loaded with transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) were first prepared with an emulsification method using genipin as crosslinker, and the selected microspheres were then embedded into porous scaffolds built by chitosan-polycaprolactone with polycaprolactone content of around 42 wt.%. Some optimized chitosan-polycaprolactone scaffolds with porosity higher than 80% and having an initial TGF-β1 load of around 3 ng(TGF-β1)/mg(dry scaffold) were capable of maintaining sustained release of TGF-β1 in a simulant in vivo environment at controlled rates over a period of time longer than four weeks without severely initial burst. The chitosan-polycaprolactone scaffolds also showed well-defined compressive properties in wet state with compressive stress at 10% strain and modulus higher than 100 kPa and 1000 kPa, respectively, which are almost ten-fold higher than that of corresponding microsphere-embedded chitosan scaffolds. The obtained results suggest that potential applications of the scaffolds in articular cartilage repair.