In situ evaluation of cell cultivation on dynamically changed poly(E⟩-caprolactone) film caused by enzymatic degradation

In situ evaluation of cell cultivation on degrading poly(E >-caprolactone) (PCL) films was studied. New culture surroundings were constructed for cell growth by using PCL films as substrates and adding Pseudomonas cepacia lipase to accelerate biodegradation of PCL films. MTT experiments for 10 h indicated the low cytotoxicity of lipase solution with concentration up to 0.2 mg/mL for MG-63 cells growth on PCL films. With the optimized lipase concentration and degradation time, we studied cell growth behavior on dynamically changed PCL films by adding lipase to the culture surroundings. MTT, fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to evaluate cell viability, proliferation and morphologies. It was found that cell viability and proliferation were not affected by the added lipase solution negatively. In contrast, cells cultured on degrading PCL films showed good growth behavior with clear fusiform shape and pseudopods. Importantly, the enzymatic degradation of PCL films with cells attachment showed distinctive morphology compared to the degradation in lipase solution without cells. The simultaneous cell growth and PCL film degradation were well discussed in this work, which may better understand the interaction between cell growth and polymer degradation.