Biocompatibility studies on bone marrow stromal cells with chitosan-gelatin blends

To study the effect of chitosan-gelatin blends on the growth and proliferation of in vitro cultured bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and explore a new carrier for the application of tissure engineering, cells from long bones of young rabbitsaged less than two weeks were expanded in vitro for one week and seeded onto the surface of pure chitosan and chitosan-gelatin blends. Cells attached to and proliferated on both pure chitosan and chitosan-gelatin blends were monitored with the aid of an inverted light microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The cell viability was monitored by MTT after 2, 4, 6, 8 days seeding. BMSCs could be attached to and proliferated on both pure chitosan and chitosan-gelatin blends and remain their morphologies seen in vivo. Chitosan-gelatin blends could promote BMSCs to proliferate (P<0.01). It is confirmed that chitosan-gelatin blends maintain the bioactivity feature of chitosan and even enhance the growth and proliferation of in vitro cultured BMSCs because of the adding of gelatin. It is a potential carrier for the delivery of cells tissue engineering.