Mammalian Cell Culture on a Novel Chitosan‐Based Biomaterial Crosslinked with Gluteraldehyde

A novel (Chitosan-g-Glycidyl Methacrylate)-Xanthan, (CTS-g-GMA)-X, hydrogel was successfully synthesized at Cinvestav Queretaro. In the present work, we attempt to study the in vitro biocompatibility of (CTS-g-GMA)-X hydrogels as scaffolds for neural cells obtained from cerebral cortex of mice; skin cells from skin of mice; and chondrocytes from human cartilage. The results obtained in the live/dead assay show that the materials maintain the morphology and viability of the cells. However the high friability of the materials prevented an extended test time in this assay. Therefore, glutaraldehyde (GL) was added to the structure as crosslinking agent to enhance friability. All results point out that [(CTS-g-GMA)-X]-GL hydrogel is viable as a scaffold for chondrocytes and skin cells; and (CTS-g-GMA)-X for neural cell due to their physicochemical properties and biocompatibility with the cells for both materials.