Porous hyaluronic acid/sodium alginate composite scaffolds for human adipose-derived stem cells delivery

The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of hyaluronic acid/sodium alginate (HA/SA) scaffold-based interpenetrating polymeric network (IPN) for the proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation of the human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs). The hADSCs cultured in HA/SA IPN scaffold exhibited enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation compared to the HA scaffold. Superior chondrogenic differentiation of hADSCs in HA/SA IPN scaffold, compared to HA-based scaffold, was confirmed by measuring expression levels of chondrogenic markers. These results suggested that HA/SA IPN scaffold could provide a desirable environment for the cell adhesion, proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation of hADSCs. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.