Browsing by Author "Kumar, PRA"

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    A Cytocompatible Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-glycidylmethacrylate) Coated Surface as New Substrate for Corneal Tissue Engineering
    (JOURNAL OF BIOACTIVE AND COMPATIBLE POLYMERS, 2010) Joseph, N; Prasad, T; Raj, V; Kumar, PRA; Sreenivasan, K; Kumary, TV
    The conventional method of retrieving cells for tissue engineering to create three-dimensional functional tissues uses enzymes that may hamper cell viability and re-adhesion. Culturing cells on thermoresponsive surfaces of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) is a relatively new nondestructive method of creating in vitro tissues. In this study, PNIPAAm and glycidylmethacrylate (GMA)-based thermoresponsive copolymer N-isopropylacrylamide-co-glycidylmethacrylate (NGMA) were synthesized as a potential cell culture harvesting system for generating 3D synthetic tissues. The copolymer was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, water contact angle, atomic force microscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The NGMA-coated dishes were evaluated for cytotoxicity and cytocompatibility using L-929 cells. Primary rabbit corneal cultures established on NGMA surface were detached as an intact cell sheet with epithelial specific characteristics as well as maintenance of cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix contact. The results confirmed the suitability of NGMA substrate for cell culture and temperature-induced cell sheet harvest. This is the first report on this copolymer formulation as a substrate for tissue engineering application. Hydrophobic GMA apart from modulating the lower critical solution temperature features the prospects of further modification, namely the incorporation of biomolecules through the epoxy groups.
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    A non-adhesive hybrid scaffold from gelatin and gum Arabic as packed bed matrix for hepatocyte perfusion culture
    (MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING C-MATERIALS FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, 2015) Sarika, PR; Viha, CVS; Raj, RGS; Nirmala, RJ; Kumar, PRA
    Development of liver support systems has become one of the most investigated areas for the last 50 years because of the shortage of donor organs for orthotopic liver transplantations. Bioartificial liver (BAL) device is one of the alternatives for liver failure which provides a curing method and support patients to recover from certain liver failure diseases. The biological compartment of BAL is called the bioreactor where functionally active hepatocytes are maintained to support the liver specific functions. We have developed a packed bed bioreactor with a cytocompatible, polysaccharide protein hybrid scaffold. The scaffold prepared from gelatin and gum Arabic acts as a packed bed matrix for hepatocyte culture. Quantitative evaluation of the hepatocytes cultured using packed bed bioreactor demonstrated that cells maintained liver specific functions like albumin and urea synthesis for seven days. These results indicated that the system can be scaled up to form the biological component of a bioartificial liver. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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    A novel approach for detection and delineation of cell nuclei using feature similarity index measure
    (BIOCYBERNETICS AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, 2016) John, J; Nair, MS; Kumar, PRA; Wilscy, M
    Accurate image segmentation of cells and tissues is a challenging research area due to its vast applications in medical diagnosis. Seed detection is the basic and most essential step for the automated segmentation of microscopic images. This paper presents a robust, accurate and novel method for detecting cell nuclei which can be efficiently used for cell segmentation. We propose a template matching method using a feature similarity index measure (FSIM) for detecting nuclei positions in the image which can be further used as seeds for segmentation tasks. Initially, a Fuzzy C-Means clustering algorithm is applied on the image for separating the foreground region containing the individual and clustered nuclei regions. FSIM based template matching approach is then used for nuclei detection. FSIM makes use of low level texture features for comparisons and hence gives good results. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated on the gold standard dataset containing 36 images (8000 nuclei) of tissue samples and also in vitro cultured cell images of Stromal Fibroblasts (5 images) and Human Macrophage cell line (4 images) using the statistical measures of Precision and Recall. The results are analyzed and compared with other state-of-the-art methods in the literature and software tools to prove its efficiency. Precision is found to be comparable and the Recall rate is found to exceed 92% for the gold standard dataset which shows considerable performance improvement over existing methods. (C) 2015 Nalecz Institute of Biocybemetics and Biomedical Engineering. Published by Elsevier Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.
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    A Novel Design of Wound Dressing Matrix with Electrospun Porous Fibers and Antibiotic Loaded Chitosan Microbeads
    (TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, 2015) Kumar, PRA; Bhaskaran, A; Krishnan, VSH; Sabareeswaran, A; Haritha, VH; Anie, Y; Kumary, TV
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    A Novel Thermoresponsive Graft Copolymer Containing Phosphorylated HEMA for Generating Detachable Cell Layers
    (JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, 2010) Abraham, TN; Raj, V; Prasad, T; Kumar, PRA; Sreenivasan, K; Kumary, TV
    A novel polymeric formulation based on N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), methylmethacrylate (MMA), and phosphorylated hydroxylethyl methacrylate (Phosp-HEMA) was synthesized and characterized. NIPAAm was copolymerized with a known quantity of MMA to form a poly(NIPAAm-MMA) copolymer and was subsequently grafted with Phosp-HEMA by gamma irradiation to a total dose of 0.5 kGy. The thermoresponsive graft copolymer was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The cytotoxicity of the graft copolymer analyzed using L-929 fibroblast cells showed noncytotoxic response. The cell adhesion on the graft copolymer was studied using rabbit corneal cells (SIRC) and human osteoblasts (HOS). The adhered cells were found to spread leading to the formation of cell layers. The cell layers with intact cell-cell and cell-extra cellular matrix contact were detached by lowering temperature below the lower critical solution temperature (29 degrees C) of the graft copolymer. The viability and morphology of the cells in detached cell sheets were assessed by live dead staining and environmental scanning electron microscopy, respectively. This interesting feature of cell adhesion to form cell layers and cell sheet retrieval is implicit to be due to the properties of phosphate moieties on thermoresponsive copolymer. To the authors knowledge there is no previous report on phosphate moiety containing thermo responsive polymeric formulations which can modulate cell adhesion and cell sheet retrieval. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 115: 52-62, 2010
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    Alternate method for grafting thermoresponsive polymer for transferring in vitro cell sheet structures
    (JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, 2007) Kumar, PRA; Sreenivasan, K; Kumary, TV
    Retrieval of cells for various applications involves enzymatic or mechanical methods that hamper the cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) binding. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) is a known temperature-sensitive polymer that exhibits a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) around 32 degrees C and is hydrophobic over LCST and hydrophilic below LCST. PIPAAm-grafted culture surface can be used for detaching adhered cells by lowering the temperature below LCST. In this study, polymerization and grafting of PIPPAm was done by gamma (7) ray irradiation instead of the conventional method of electron beam irradiation. The efficacy of the grafted surface was confirmed by the successful growth of different cell lines such as L-929, NRK-49F, HOS, and SIRC. The cell sheet structures with intact cell-cell and cell-ECM contact was detached by lowering incubation temperature below 20 degrees C. Live-dead staining of cells before and after transfer showed that cell sheet structures maintained viability. This approach of synthesizing thermoresponsive surface by gamma-ray irradiation method can be used to culture many other cell types and could be utilized to prepare in vitro tissue constructs for bioengineering. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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    Cell Image Segmentation and Color Coding based on Nucleus to Cell Ratio
    (2014 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (ICECS), 2014) John, J; Nair, MS; Wilsey, M; Kumar, PRA
    Biomedical analysis is a highly challenging area where lot of research activities is going on. Many automated biomedical image processing procedures have cell segmentation as its first step. Manual methods for this purpose are imprecise, tedious and highly subjective. Hence, novel automated methods are necessary. Analysis of cells includes segmenting the cells as well as computing the area of cell and nucleus. The nucleus to cellular ratio is crucial in determining the type of cells as well as detecting cancerous or damaged cells. In this paper, we propose a novel method to segment nucleus and cell and color code the cells based on their increasing nucleus to cellular ratio. Our tool will help scientists analyze biomedical images in a much better and efficient manner. The results of the proposed method have been compared with the most popular interactive image analysis tool ImageJ. The results obtained using our method is visually more appealing and easier for analysis.
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    Cell patch seeding and functional analysis of cellularized scaffolds for tissue engineering
    (BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS, 2007) Kumar, PRA; Varma, HK; Kumary, TV
    Cell seeding has a direct impact on the final structure and function of tissue constructs, especially for applications like tissue engineering and regeneration. In this study seeding cell patches retrieved from the thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) surface were used to generate in vitro tissue constructs. Porous and dense bone substitute materials were cellularized using osteoblast cells by a patch transfer and a trypsin method. The function and proliferation of cells was analyzed after 7 days of culture. The relative cell growth rate was found to be higher in cellularized porous hydroxyapatite (PHA) than in dense hydroxyapatite. Live-dead staining confirmed viable cells inside the pores of PHA. Increased alkaline phosphatase activity of cells transferred by the cell patch over the trypsin method revealed the significance of cell patch seeding. This novel method of generating tissue constructs by cell patch seeding was successful in cellularizing scaffolds with intact cell function.
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    Characterization and in vitro evaluation of electrospun chitosan/polycaprolactone blend fibrous mat for skin tissue engineering
    (JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN MEDICINE, 2015) Prasad, T; Shabeena, EA; Vinod, D; Kumary, TV; Kumar, PRA
    The electrospinning technique allows engineering biomimetic scaffolds within micro to nanoscale range mimicking natural extracellular matrix (ECM). Chitosan (CS) and polycaprolactone (PCL) were dissolved in a modified solvent mixture consisting of formic acid and acetone (3:7) and mixed in different weight ratios to get chitosan-polycaprolactone [CS-PCL] blend solutions. The CS-PCL blend polymer was electrospun in the same solvent system and compared with PCL. The physicochemical characterization of the electrospun fibrous mats was done using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), tensile test, swelling properties, water contact angle (WCA) analysis, surface profilometry and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The CS-PCL fibrous mat showed decreased hydrophobicity. The CS-PCL mats also showed improved swelling property, tensile strength, thermal stability and surface roughness. The cytocompatibility of the CS-PCL and PCL fibrous mats were examined using mouse fibroblast (L-929) cell line by direct contact and cellular activity with extract of materials confirmed non-cytotoxic nature. The potential of CS-PCL and PCL fibrous mats as skin tissue engineering scaffolds were assessed by cell adhesion, viability, proliferation and actin distribution using human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and L-929 cell lines. Results indicate that CSPCL is a better scaffold for attachment and proliferation of keratinocytes and is a potential material for skin tissue engineering.
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    Evaluation of Polypropylene Hollow-Fiber Prototype Bioreactor for Bioartificial Liver
    (TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, 2013) Palakkan, AA; Raj, DK; Rojan, J; Raj, RGS; Kumar, PRA; Muraleedharan, CV; Kumary, TV
    Hepatocytes in high density are a requisite for the functional performance of complex devices such as bioartificial liver (BAL). In addition to high cell number, efficient mass transfer is also a key parameter in such devices. High-density culture of cells and efficient mass transfer can be achieved in BAL with hollow-fiber-based bioreactors. Even though different types of hollow fibers have been tried in a BAL, prospects of using polypropylene hollow fibers are not well evaluated. In this study, a prototype of bioreactor with polypropylene hollow fibers was fabricated and evaluated for cytotoxicity and hepatocyte function. High density of HepG2/adult hepatocyte cultures was used to evaluate polypropylene hollow fiber to support the biochemical activities (albumin and urea production), ammonia detoxification, and gene expression and to provide effective oxygenation. The results confirmed that a polypropylene hollow-fiber prototype bioreactor is able to provide efficient oxygenation and supported hepatocyte functions in a high-density culture.
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    Galactosylated alginate-curcumin micelles for enhanced delivery of curcumin to hepatocytes
    (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES, 2016) Sarika, PR; James, NR; Kumar, PRA; Raj, DK
    Galactosylated alginate-curcumin conjugate (LANH(2)-Alg Ald-Cur) is synthesized for targeted delivery of curcumin to hepatocytes exploiting asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) on hepatocytes. The synthetic procedure includes oxidation of alginate (Alg), modification of lactobionic acid (LA), grafting of targeting group (modified lactobinic acid, LANH(2)) and conjugation of curcumin to alginate. Alginate-curcumin conjugate (Alg-Cur) without targeting group is also prepared for the comparison of properties. LANH(2)-Alg Ald-Cur self assembles to micelle with diameter of 235 +/- 5 nm and zeta potential of -29 mV in water. Cytotoxicity analysis demonstrates enhanced toxicity of LANH(2)-Alg Ald-Cur over Alg-Cur on HepG2 cells. Cellular uptake studies confirm that LANH(2)-Alg Ald-Cur can selectively recognize HepG2 cells and shows higher internalization than Alg-Cur conjugate. Results indicate that LANH(2)-Alg Ald-Cur conjugate micelles are suitable candidates for targeted delivery of curcumin to HepG2 cells. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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    Galactosylated pullulan-curcumin conjugate micelles for site specific anticancer activity to hepatocarcinoma cells
    (COLLOIDS AND SURFACES B-BIOINTERFACES, 2015) Sarika, PR; James, NR; Nishna, N; Kumar, PRA; Raj, DK
    Galactosylated pullulan curcumin conjugate (LANH(2)-Pu Aid-Cur SA) is developed for target specific delivery of curcumin to hepatocarcinoma cells by five step synthetic strategy, which includes oxidation of pullulan (Pu Ald), introduction of amino group to the targeting ligand (LANH(2)), grafting of the LANH(2) to Pu Aid, modification of curcumin (Cur SA) and conjugation of Cur SA to pullulan. Nongalactosylated pullulan curcumin conjugate (Pu-Cur SA) is also prepared to compare the enhancement in cytotoxicity offered by the targeting group. Both LANH(2)-Pu Aid-Cur SA and Pu-Cur SA conjugates could self assemble to micelle in water with hydrodynamic diameters of 355 +/- 9 nm and 363 +/- 10 nm, respectively. Both conjugates show spherical morphology and enhance stability of curcumin in physiological pH. Compared to Pu-Cur SA, LANH(2)-Pu Aid-Cur SA exhibits higher toxicity and internalization towards HepG2 cells. This indicates the enhanced uptake of LANH(2)-Pu Ald-Cur SA conjugate via ASGPR (asialoglycoprotein receptor) mediated endocytosis into HepG2 cells. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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    Graphene oxide decorated electrospun gelatin nanofibers: Fabrication, properties and applications
    (MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING C-MATERIALS FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, 2016) Jalaja, K; Sreehari, VS; Kumar, PRA; Nirmala, RJ
    Gelatin nanofiber fabricated by electrospinning process is found to mimic the complex structural and functional properties of natural extracellular matrix for tissue regeneration. In order to improve the physico-chemical and biological properties of the nanofibers, graphene oxide is incorporated in the gelatin to form graphene oxide decorated gelatin nanofibers. The current research effort is focussed on the fabrication and evaluation of physicochemical and biological properties of graphene oxide-gelatin composite nanofibers. The presence of graphene oxide in the nanofibers was established by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We report the effect of incorporation of graphene oxide on the mechanical, thermal and biological performance of the gelatin nanofibers. The tensile strength of gelatin nanofibers was increased from 829 +/- 0.53 MPa to 21 +/- 2.03 MPa after the incorporation of GO. In order to improve the water resistance of nanofibers, natural based cross-linking agent, namely, dextran aldehyde was employed. The cross-linked composite nanofibers showed further increase in the tensile strength up to 56.4 +/- 2.03 MPa. Graphene oxide incorporated gelatin nanofibers are evaluated for bacterial activity against gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria and cyto compatibility using mouse fibroblast cells (L-929 cells). The results indicate that the graphene oxide incorporated gelatin nanofibers do not prevent bacterial growth, nevertheless support the L-929 cell adhesion and proliferation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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    Gum arabic-curcumin conjugate micelles with enhanced loading for curcumin delivery to hepatocarcinoma cells
    (CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS, 2015) Sarika, PR; James, NR; Kumar, PRA; Raj, DK; Kumary, TV
    Curcumin is conjugated to gum arabic, a highly water soluble polysaccharide to enhance the solubility and stability of curcumin. Conjugation of curcumin to gum arabic is confirmed by H-1 NMR, fluorescence and UV spectroscopy studies. The conjugate self assembles to spherical nano-micelles (270 +/- 5 nm) spontaneously, when dispersed in aqueous medium. Spherical morphology of the self assembled conjugate is evidenced by field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The self assembly of the amphiphilic conjugate into micelle in aqueous medium significantly enhances the solubility (900 fold of that of free curcumin) and stability of curcumin in physiological pH. The anticancer activity of the conjugate micelles is found to be higher in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells than in human breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cells. The conjugate exhibits enhanced accumulation and toxicity in HepG2 cells due to the targeting efficiency of the galactose groups present in gum arabic. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    In vitro cytocompatibility studies of Diamond Like Carbon coatings on titanium
    (BIO-MEDICAL MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING, 2002)
    Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) films were deposited on to titanium (Ti) substrates by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) process. The quality of the films were checked by Raman spectra and nano-hardness tests. The cytocompatibility of titanium and DLC coated titanium were studied using continuous cell lines of mouse fibroblast cells (L-929), Human Osteoblast cells (HOS) and primary human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). The cellular responses to the materials were assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The adhesion and spreading of cells on materials were compared using Ti as a control. Present study indicates an improved cytocompatibility of DLC coated Ti in comparison to bare Ti.
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    Modified dextran cross-linked electrospun gelatin nanofibres for biomedical applications
    (CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS, 2014) Jalaja, K; Kumar, PRA; Dey, T; Kundu, SC; James, NR
    Electrospun gelatin nanofibres attract attention of bioengineering arena because of its excellent biocompatibility and structural resemblance with native extracellular matrix. In this study, we have developed gelatin nanofibres using an innovative cross-linking approach to minimize cytotoxic effects. Gelatin was dissolved in water:acetic acid (8:2, v/v) solution and electrospun to form nanofibres with diameter in the range of 156 +/- 30 nm. The nanofibres were cross-linked with a modified polysaccharide, namely, dextran aldehyde (DA). Cross-linking with DA could be achieved without compromising the fibrous architecture. DA cross-linked gelatin nanofibres maintained the fibrous morphology in aqueous medium. These mats exhibit improved mechanical properties and gradual degradation behaviour. The nanofibres were evaluated for cytotoxicity, cell adhesion, viability, morphology and proliferation using L-929 fibroblast cells. The results confirmed that DA cross-linked mats were non cytotoxic towards L-929 cells with good cell adhesion, spreading and proliferation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-glycidylmethacrylate as a Thermoresponsive Substrate for Corneal Endothelial Cell Sheet Engineering
    (BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, 2014) Madathil, BK; Kumar, PRA; Kumary, TV
    Endothelial keratoplasty is a recent shift in the surgical treatment of corneal endothelial dystrophies, where the dysfunctional endothelium is replaced whilst retaining the unaffected corneal layers. To overcome the limitation of donor corneal shortage, alternative use of tissue engineered constructs is being researched. Tissue constructs with intact extracellular matrix are generated using stimuli responsive polymers. In this study we evaluated the feasibility of using the thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-glycidylmethacrylate) polymer as a culture surface to harvest viable corneal endothelial cell sheets. Incubation below the lower critical solution temperature of the polymer allowed the detachment of the intact endothelial cell sheet. Phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy revealed the intact architecture, cobble stone morphology, and cell-to-cell contact in the retrieved cell sheet. Strong extracellular matrix deposition was also observed. The RT-PCR analysis confirmed functionally active endothelial cells in the cell sheet as evidenced by the positive expression of aquaporin 1, collagen IV, Na+ -K+ ATPase, and FLK-1. Na+ -K+ ATPase protein expression was also visualized by immunofluorescence staining. These results suggest that the in-house developed thermoresponsive culture dish is a suitable substrate for the generation of intact corneal endothelial cell sheet towards transplantation for endothelial keratoplasty.
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    Nanogels based on alginic aldehyde and gelatin by inverse miniemulsion technique: synthesis and characterization
    (CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS, 2015) Sarika, PR; Kumar, PRA; Raj, DK; James, NR
    Nanogels were developed from alginic aldehyde and gelatin by an inverse miniemulsion technique. Stable inverse miniemulsions were prepared by sonication of noncontinuous aqueous phase (mixture of alginic aldehyde and gelatin) in a continuous organic phase (Span 20 dissolved in cyclohexane). Cross-linking occurred between alginic aldehyde (M) and gelatin (gel) in the presence of borax by Schiff's base reaction during the formation of inverse miniemulsion. The effects of surfactant (Span 20) concentration, volume of the aqueous phase and AA/gel weight ratio on the size of the alginic aldehyde-gelatin (AA-gel) nanoparticles were studied. Nanogels were characterized by DLS, FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA, SEM and TEM. DLS, TEM and SEM studies demonstrated nanosize and spherical morphology of the nanogels. Hemocompatibility and in vitro cytocompatibility analyses of the nanogels proved their nontoxicity. The results indicated the potential of the present nanogel system as a candidate for drug- and gene-delivery applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Ocular Surface Regeneration using Bioengineered Cell Construct
    (TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, 2015) Kumar, PRA; Shenoy, SJ; Kumary, TV; Chitra, R; Tilak, P; Nithya, J; Sreenivasan, K; Sabareeswaran, A; Vinod, D; Bernadette, MK
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    Porous composites of hydroxyapatite-filled poly[ethylene-co-(vinyl acetate)] for tissue engineering
    (POLYMER INTERNATIONAL, 2011) Sunny, MC; Vincy, PV; Kumar, PRA; Ramesh, P
    A novel porous composite of hydroxyapatite/poly[ethylene-co-vinyl acetate)] (HAP/EVA) having better osteointegration was fabricated by gas foaming technique using a non toxic gas blowing agent intended for bone replacement applications. Combined techniques of scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray microcomputed tomography (mu CT) analysis showed that the pore size and pore volume of the porous composite decrease with the increase of HAP content. The gravimetric analysis evidenced for good pore interconnectivity within the porous composites. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) studies inveterated the even scattering of Ca ions which in turn indicate the uniform dispersion of HAP particles in the composites. The significant gradation in Ca ion concentration seen in EDX studies is well accordance with the amount of HAP loading in the sample. Mechanical properties of the porous composite having different HAP content were measured to have the compressive strength varying from 1.06 to 2.2 MPa. Non-cytotoxic character of the material was observed by the cytocompatibility studies. The metabolic activity of L929 cells seeded on the material assessed by [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol)-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltertrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was found to be 91.8%. The adhesion and migration of the cells inside the pore walls were visualized by confocal microscopy. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry