A novel cell support membrane for skin tissue engineering: Gelatin film cross-linked with 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide

A novel method for preparing cell support membrane which employs heterogeneously cross-linking (CR) process to prepare water-insoluble gelatin (GEL) films was suggested, and compared with 1-ethyl-(3,3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide. In this study, we found that 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide (CMPI) is an effective zero-length cross-linker of gelatin, and showed a superior activation ability of carboxylic acid sodium salt under heterogeneous reaction. The CMPI-CR-GEL films showed high water uptake ability, reasonable biodegradability, and excellent cytocompatibility. In vitro studies with 3T3 fibroblasts demonstrated an increased cell viability for those cells grown on CMPI-CR-GEL membranes, and significantly increased cell numbers from Day 1–12. Furthermore, under heterogeneous process, the gelatin film can fabricate in advance, and maintained the original dimension, thickness, and shape after cross-link. Meanwhile, the reaction residues can be easy removed by rinsing and washing processes. These characteristics make the process easily transfer to industrial manufacturing in the future.