Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro

To mimic natural extracellular matrix architecture, tetrandrine-loaded poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin were prepared via phase separation, solvent replacement and freeze-drying. The purpose of this work was to combine the biological effects of tetrandrine and the advantages of poly...

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Дата:2017
Автор: Zhang Ye
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Опубліковано: НТК «Інститут монокристалів» НАН України 2017
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Цитувати:Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro / Zhang Ye // Functional Materials. — 2017. — Т. 24, № 4. — С. 660-666. — Бібліогр.: 34 назв. — англ.

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spelling nasplib_isofts_kiev_ua-123456789-1368912025-02-10T01:18:54Z Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro Zhang Ye Technology To mimic natural extracellular matrix architecture, tetrandrine-loaded poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin were prepared via phase separation, solvent replacement and freeze-drying. The purpose of this work was to combine the biological effects of tetrandrine and the advantages of poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds which was modified by gelatin to enhancing the mass transfer features of controlled release systems. Tetrandrine contained in the scaffolds was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Tetrandrine did not change the morphous, crystallinity and thermodynamics of the scaffolds which demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD). The results of this study showed a sustained release with 79.15% for 188 days in vitro. 2017 Article Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro / Zhang Ye // Functional Materials. — 2017. — Т. 24, № 4. — С. 660-666. — Бібліогр.: 34 назв. — англ. 1027-5495 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/fm24.04.660 https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/136891 en Functional Materials application/pdf НТК «Інститут монокристалів» НАН України
institution Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
collection DSpace DC
language English
topic Technology
Technology
spellingShingle Technology
Technology
Zhang Ye
Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro
Functional Materials
description To mimic natural extracellular matrix architecture, tetrandrine-loaded poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin were prepared via phase separation, solvent replacement and freeze-drying. The purpose of this work was to combine the biological effects of tetrandrine and the advantages of poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds which was modified by gelatin to enhancing the mass transfer features of controlled release systems. Tetrandrine contained in the scaffolds was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Tetrandrine did not change the morphous, crystallinity and thermodynamics of the scaffolds which demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD). The results of this study showed a sustained release with 79.15% for 188 days in vitro.
format Article
author Zhang Ye
author_facet Zhang Ye
author_sort Zhang Ye
title Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro
title_short Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro
title_full Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro
title_fullStr Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro
title_full_unstemmed Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro
title_sort poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro
publisher НТК «Інститут монокристалів» НАН України
publishDate 2017
topic_facet Technology
url https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/136891
citation_txt Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro / Zhang Ye // Functional Materials. — 2017. — Т. 24, № 4. — С. 660-666. — Бібліогр.: 34 назв. — англ.
series Functional Materials
work_keys_str_mv AT zhangye polylacticacidscaffoldsmodifiedbygelatinforthecontrolledreleaseoftetrandrineinvitro
first_indexed 2025-12-02T10:56:05Z
last_indexed 2025-12-02T10:56:05Z
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fulltext 660 Functional materials, 24, 4, 2017 ISSN 1027-5495. Functional Materials, 24, No.4 (2017), p. 660-666 doi:https://doi.org/10.15407/fm24.04.660 © 2017 — STC “Institute for Single Crystals” Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin for the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro Zhang Ye1,2 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zibo Vocational Institute, Zibo, Shandong 255314, China 2 Research Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin300193, China Received August 20, 2017 To mimic natural extracellular matrix architecture, tetrandrine-loaded poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds modified by gelatin were prepared via phase separation, solvent replacement and freeze-drying. The purpose of this work was to combine the biological effects of tetrandrine and the advantages of poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds which was modified by gelatin to enhancing the mass transfer features of controlled release systems. Tetrandrine contained in the scaffolds was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Tetrandrine did not change the morphous, crystallinity and thermodynamics of the scaffolds which demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD). The results of this study showed a sustained release with 79.15% for 188 days in vitro. Keywords: poly(lactic acid) scaffolds, gelatin, tetrandrine, tissue engineering. С целью воссоздания естественной архитектуры внутриклеточного матрикса методами разделения фаз, заменой растворителя и сублимационной сушки были синтезированы полимерные каркасы поли(L-молочной кислоты), модифицированные желатином и загруженные тетрандрином. Цель данной работы состояла в объединении биологического эффекта тетрандрина и преимуществ синтезированных каркасов для повышения характеристик массопереноса с контролируемым высвобождением лекарственного вещества (тетрандрина). Присутствие тетрандрина в синтезированных каркасах определялось методами рентгеновской фотоэлектронной спектроскопии и инфракрасной спектроскопии с Фурье-преобразованием. Методами дифференциально сканирующей калориметрии, сканирующей электронной микроскопии и рентгенфазового анализа показано, что тетрандрин не изменяет морфологию, кристалличность и термодинамику образования каркасов. Результаты исследования in vitro показали, что синтезированные каркасы обеспечивают пролонгированное высвобождение 79,15% тетрандрина в течение 188 дней. Полімерні каркаси полі (L-молочної кислоти), модифіковані желатином для контрольованого вивільнення тетрандріна in vitro. Zhang Ye З метою відтворення природної архітектури внутрішньоклітинного матриксу методами розподілу фаз, заміною розчинника та сублімаційною сушкою були синтезовані полімерні каркаси полі (L-молочної кислоти), модифіковані желатином і завантажені тетрандріном. Мета даної роботи полягала в об’єднанні біологічного ефекту тетрандріна і переваг синтезованих каркасів для підвищення характеристик масопереносу з контрольованим вивільненням лікарської речовини (тетрандріна). Присутність тетрандріна в синтезованих каркасах визначався методами рентгенівської фотоелектронної спектроскопії та інфрачервоної спектроскопії з Фур’є-перетворенням. Методами диференційно скануючої калориметрії, скануючої електронної мікроскопії та рентген-фазового аналізу показано, що тетрандрін не змінює морфологію, кристалічність і термодинаміку створення каркасів. Результати дослідження in vitro показали, що синтезовані каркаси забезпечують пролонговане вивільнення 79,15% тетрандріна протягом 188 днів. Functional materials, 24, 34 2017 661 Zhang Ye / Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by ... 1. Introduction Much interest has been generated recently in the area of tissue engineering to create bio- logical alternatives for implants and prosthe- ses. In this approach, a highly porous scaffold (artifical extracellular matrix) is needed to ac- commodate cells and guide their growth and tissue regeneration in three dimensions. Biode- gradable polymers, either natural or synthetic, have been processes into scaffolds for tissue en- gineering [14]. Poly(lactic acid) (PLLA), a biode- gradable synthetic materials, was widely used in biomedical engineering due to their innocu- ity, biodegradability, bioenvironmental com- patibility and so on [14, 25, 6]. It was therefore approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for certain human clinical applications such as surgical sutures and some implantable devices. Recently, porous PLLA scaffolds were widely investigated in osteoblastic [32], cranial bone [22] , corneal [1], chondrocyte [2] tissue engineering, etc. However, one disadvantage of PLLA scaffold was the complications resulting from the accumulation of lactic acid produced in the process of degradation. Growth factor is mostly water soluble pro- tein from human or animal. Its price is expen- sive, and its biological property is unstable. Thus, its loading on the scaffolds has certain difficulty. Additionally, excessive dose of growth factor may induce tumor cell growth. Antibiot- ics are also used in engineering scaffolds for antibacterial and anti-infection in vitro [12]. However, the pharmacological action of anti- biotics is only simple antibacterial. Antibiotics have no physiological activity. Some effective components in traditional Chinese medicine has a function similar to that of the cytokines and the corresponding pharmacological effects, and the price is low, the physical and chemical properties is relative stability. Thus, they show good prospects for application as substitutes of cytokines. Tetrandrine (Tet), a bis-benzyliso- quinoline alkaloid isolated from the dried root of the natural Chinese herb Stephania tetran- dra which used as an effective agent for rheu- matic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis exhib- its a variety of pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-fibrotic and anticancer activities, antiplatelet aggrega- tion, Ca2+ channel block, immunosuppressive, and free radical scavenging effects [11, 13, 17, 23, 24, 30]. Consequently, it has effective func- tion in the treatment of many diseases includ- ing pulmonary diseases, hepatic fibrosis, ar- thritis, silicosis and so on [9,10,16, 20]. Tet has also shown antidepressant-like effect by regu- lating the central monoaminergic neurotrans- mitter system and the levels of BDNF [7] . Ac- cording to previous literature, low concentra- tion of Tet (1-2.5 mg/L) promotes proliferation, activity and glycosaminoglycan and collagen- secreting of chondrocyte. Thus, Tet has great prospective future in cartilaginous tissue en- gineering applications [5]. Compared with con- trol PLLA films, Tet loaded in the poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) films could reduce the inflamma- tory response in macrophages by regulating the mRNA expression and protein expression, and significantly inhibit inflammatory reaction in 4, 12 weeks after implanting in rats. There- fore, Tet could enhanced the biocompatibility of PLLA films [21]. The purpose of the present work was to pre- pare Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds modified by gelatin and investigate the controlled release of tetrandrine in vitro. PLLA scaffolds modi- fied by gelatin, as biomimetic surface modifier could elicit controlled cellular adhesion and maintain differentiated phenotypic expres- sion [4], were prepared via phase separation, solvent replacement, freeze-drying. Then, Tet which presents anti-inflammatory activities and physiological activities similar to cytokine was loaded on PLLA scaffolds modified. Alka- lescence and anti-inflammatory activities of Tet could relieve complications resulting from the accumulation of lactic acid produced in the process of degradation. The drug with specific properties could be sustained delivered to the necessary site of action, and thus repair recon- stituted cartilage tissue and maintain its phe- notype and cellular function. X-ray photoelec- tron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were measured to evaluate the formulation of modified PLLA scaffolds and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds. Dif- ferential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) were performed to com- pare the physicochemical properties. On the other hand, drug content and release behaviors were performed to evaluate sustained release characteristics of Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds. 2. Materials and methods 2.1 Materials Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA, Mn=4.32×104 g/mol) was kindly donated by Prof. Xue-Si Chen, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences. Tetrandrine (Tet) and gelatin were purchased from Sigma- Aldrich Co. (St Louis, USA). HPLC grade aceto- nitrile were supplied by Merck & Co., Inc. (Bei- jing, China). Other materials and solvents used were of analytical reagent grade. 662 Functional materials, 24, 4, 2017 Zhang Ye / Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by ... 2.2 Preparation of PLLA scaffolds On the basis of the theory of thermally in- duced phase separation (TIPS) and freeze-dry- ing approach (FDA) [15,18,29,31], three-dimen- sional microporous PLLA scaffolds modified by gelatin were fabricated via phase separa- tion, solvent replacement and freeze-drying. A typical procedure was used as following: pre- weighed PLLA was dissolved in tetrahydrofu- ran (THF) at 60°C to form 5% (wt/v, polymer/ THF) solution. The solution was poured into glass vials, which were then quickly put into -80°C refrigerator for 24 hours to gel. The vials containing the PLLA solution was then trans- ferred into 50% (v/v) ethanol at -20°C. After 24 hours for solvent exchange, the ethanol was re- placed with 5 wt % gelatin aqueous solution for 16 hours at room temperature. Then, the gel was placed in distilled water for 2 day, exchang- ing with fresh distilled water three times a day, and then put into -20°C refrigerator again for freezing. Afterwards, the frozen gel lyophilized in a freeze-drier for the purpose of removing water sufficiently and the PLLA scaffolds were acquired accordingly. The fabrication of Tet-loaded PLLA scaf- folds was slightly different from that of PLLA scaffolds. One needs to add 10% Tet (wt/wt, Tet/polymer) in 5% (wt/v, polymer/THF) poly- mer solution before pouring into glass vials. All other processes were identical. 2.3 Characterization of PLLA scaffolds XPS measurements of PLLA scaffolds, modified PLLA scaffolds and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds were performed on a instrument (Per- kin Elmer 5600, USA) with Al Kα radiation (hv=1486.6 eV). The values of binding energies were calibrated with respect to C1s peak at 284.7 eV. FT-IR spectra of PLLA scaffolds modified PLLA scaffolds and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds were recorded on an infrared spectrometer (BIO-RAD FTS3000, USA). The samples were prepared by the potassium bromide disc meth- od and scanned for absorbance 4000-400 cm−1. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns of modified PLLA scaffolds and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds were recorded using an X-ray diffrac- tometer (Rigaku D/max-2500, Japan). Radia- tions generated from Cu Kα source and filtered through Ni filters with a wavelength of 0.154 nm at 20 mA and 36 kV were used. The scan- ning rate employed was 4°/min over the 10-40° range. DSC thermograms of scaffolds were record- ed on a differential scanning calorimeter (PER- KIN-ELMER DSC 7, USA). The instrument was calibrated with indium and zinc prior to analyzing the samples under nitrogen. All ac- curately weighed samples (2.5 mg) were placed into sealed aluminium pans and scanned at the heating rate of 10 °C/min over the temperature range of 30-250 °C. Scaffolds were viewed with a scanning elec- tron microscope (SEM, Philips XL30, Nether- lands). The surface and inner microstructures were investigated on specimen surfaces and cross-sections cut in liquid nitrogen. The sam- ples were coated with gold prior to SEM obser- vation. 2.4 Determination of Tet release behaviors Pre weighed amounts of PLLA scaffolds were suspended in 50 mL of PBS (pH 7.4) buffer solu- tion at 37°C. At predetermined time intervals, 200 μL of released solution was withdrawn for measuring, which was replenished by 200 μL of fresh PBS solution to maintain a constant volume. The concentration of released Tet was monitored on a Waters 2695 series HPLC sys- tem. 20-microliter samples were injected on a reversed-phase HPLC column (Thermo C18, 250 mm´4.6 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase con- sisted of a mixture of acetonitrile and water at 30:70 containing 0.12% (v/v) diethylamine and pH value was modified at 4 by phosphoric acid (H3PO4). Flow rate was adjusted to 1.0 mL/min. All samples were analyzed in triplicate at 282 nm. The average and standard deviations were presented. 3. Results and discussion 3.1 XPS XPS is a quantitative spectroscopic tech- nique that measures the elemental composi- tion, empirical formula, chemical state and electronic state of the elements that exist with- in a material. XPS spectra are obtained by irra- diating a material with a beam of X-rays while simultaneously measuring the kinetic energy (KE) and number of electrons that escape from the top 1 to 10 nm of the material being ana- lyzed. A typical XPS spectrum is a plot of the number of electrons detected (sometimes per unit time) (Y-axis, ordinate) versus the binding energy of the electrons detected (X-axis, abscis- sa). Each element produces a characteristic set of XPS peaks at characteristic binding energy values that directly identify each element that exist in or on the surface of the material being analyzed. The XPS spectrum of scaffolds was shown in Figure 1. As can be discovered, PLLA scaffolds showed two XPS peaks at 284.7 eV and 532.8 eV which assigned to C1s and O1s respectively. By contrast, modified PLLA scaffolds displayed a new XPS peaks at 399.5 eV which attributed to N1s due to cyano (-CONH) or amine (-NH2 ) Functional materials, 24, 34 2017 663 Zhang Ye / Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by ... groups of gelatin. Therefore, gelatin was con- tained on the surface of PLLA scaffolds. As ex- pected, the surface nitrogen content is larger for Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds, compared to PLLA scaffolds modified by gelatin (Table 1). This result can be attributed to nitrogen of tertiary amines contained in Tet. In this case, Tet was contained on the surface of PLLA scaffolds. 3.2 FT-IR spectroscopy FT-IR spectroscopy was utilized as anoth- er supporting evidence for the formulation of modified PLLA scaffolds and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds. FT-IR spectrograms of samples were given in Fig. 2. The hydroxyl (-OH), amino (- NH2) and cyano (-CONH2) groups gelatin stretching bands at 3000-3700 cm–1 (as the ar- row in the Figure 3 shown) , as well as C=O gelatin stretching bands at 1651 cm–1 and amino gelatin characteristic absorption bands at 1557 cm–1 appeared in the FT-IR spectro- gram of modified PLLA scaffolds. These were evidence of gelatin contained on the surface of modified PLLA scaffolds. In comparison to the FT-IR spectrum of modified PLLA scaffolds, Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds exhibits little changes in shapes, while the strength and width of characteristic absorption bands increased due to approxi- mately the superposition of Tet and modified PLLA scaffolds. 3.3 XRD According to previous reports, modified PLLA scaffolds were conducive to cell adhe- sion, proliferation and function, so it has bright future in tissue engineering [3,4,33]. With the aim to confirm the potentiality of Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds in chondrocyte tissue engi- neering, XRD was measured. XRD clearly confirmed the crystalline nature of Tet as well as the amorphous state of PLLA scaffolds (Figure 3). The crystalline peaks of modified PLLA scaffolds that at 2θ are equal to 16.6° and 19.1° which in accordance with the conclu- sion previous reported by Hideto Tsuji [19]. These peaks are comparable with α form of PLLA crystallized in a pseudo-orthorhombic unit cell of dimensions: a = 1.07 nm, b = 0.595 nm and c = 2.78 nm which contains two 103 he- lices. It was worth noting that the shape of Tet- loaded scaffolds observed on diffractograms showed no significant differences from that of modified PLLA scaffolds. Therefore, the load- ing of Tet did not change the crystallinity of the scaffolds. 3.4 DSC DSC thermograms of modified PLLA scaf- folds and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds were re- ported in Figure 4, and the melting temperature (Tpeak) and fusion enthalpy (ΔH) were listed in Table 2. As can be discovered, the thermogram of modified PLLA scaffolds showed a fusion endo- Fig 1. The XPS spectrum of PLLA scaffolds (a), modified PLLA scaffolds (b) and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds (c). Fig. 2. FT-IR spectrum of Tet (a), PLLA scaffolds (b), modified PLLA scaffolds (c) and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds (d). Table 1. The elements composition of PLLA scaffolds (a), modified PLLA scaffolds (b) and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds (c) Samples element composition (%) C O N PLLA scaffolds 65.6 34.4 0 modified PLLA scaffolds 63.2 33.6 3.1 Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds 63.6 32.5 3.8 664 Functional materials, 24, 4, 2017 Zhang Ye / Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by ... thermic peak at 153.3°C (ΔH = 44.29 J/g) corre- spondent to its melting point. The thermogram of Tet-loaded scaffolds exhibits no significant difference in Tpeak and ΔH from that of modified PLLA scaffolds, which could be explained by the existent of Tet did not change the thermo- dynamics of the scaffolds. 3.5 SEM The morphologies of the scaffolds were shown in Figure 5. What can be found was that the scaffolds all acquire network structures constructing of ultrafine fiber. Moreover, the average fiber diameter and pore size of Tet- loaded PLLA scaffolds varies little with that of modified PLLA scaffolds. In other words, the molecular structure of scaffolds keeps identical after Tet containing. Therefore, the loading of Tet did not change the morphous of the scaf- folds. This would be helpful for Tet-loaded scaf- folds to be used in chondrocyte tissue engineer- ing field. 3.6 Drug release behaviors The drug loading content was calculated from the ratio of amount of drug containing in the PLLA scaffold and the weight of PLLA scaf- fold, and up to 0.652 mg/g. It was worth noting that the experimental amount of loading drug is much smaller than the theoretical amount. It may be due to considerable dissolving of Tet during the process of replacing THF with 50% (V/V) ethanol and then with distilled water. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to assay the drug loading content of Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds. In addition, the Tet content has sig- nificant influence on the behaviors of chondro- cyte. It had been proved that low tetrandrine was beneficial for chondrocyte proliferation, chondrocyte activity and chondrocyte expres- sion, and thus for chondrocyte tissue recon- struction [26]. In this paper, the average drug Fig. 3. X-ray diffractograms of Tet (a), PLLA scaffolds (b) and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds (c). Fig. 4. DSC thermograms of modified PLLA scaf- folds (a) and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds (b). Fig. 5. SEM photographs of modified PLLA scaffolds (left) and Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds (right). Table 2. Differential scanning calorimetric data of PLLA scaffolds Samples Tonset, °C Tpeak, °C ΔH (J·g–1) modified PLLA scaffolds 140.0 153.3 44.29 Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds 139.0 152.7 49.4 Functional materials, 24, 34 2017 665 Zhang Ye / Poly(lactic acid) scaffolds modified by ... loading content of Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds was about 0.652 mg/g which favorable for Tet- loaded scaffolds using in chondrocyte tissue en- gineering field. The release behaviors of Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds were reported in Figure 6. As can be discovered, the initial burst effect was not observed in all examined samples, which con- firmed that Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds could be prepared without any residual drug on their surfaces. In the initial stage, the release rate increased slowly. After that, the drug released from the scaffolds increased apparently. Tet loaded into the pores of PLLA scaffolds showed significant sustained release characteristics of about 79.15% in 188 days. The scaffolds keep good integrity through release studies. Drug release behaviors also have important effect on the behaviors of chondrocyte. It is gen- erally assumed that a drug is released by sever- al mechanics: (a) Fickian diffusion through the polymer matrix, (b) diffusion through pores in the matrix, and (c) drug liberation by polymer erosion. For Tet-loaded PLLA scaffolds, Tet is physically entrapped in PLLA matrix. And the degradation of PLLA scaffolds during the experiment period is ignorable which reported in many studies [8, 19, 27, 28,]. Therefore, it is speculated that the drug release from the scaffolds is carried out mainly through Fickian diffusion. Although the network of PLLA scaf- folds which is the main diffusion barrier of Tet can swell in water solution and that should be a positive factor to improve Tet diffusion, Tet is a lipophilic alkaloid and its solubility in water is very low. This will result in the decrease of Tet release rate. 4. Conclusions This study explored the potential of Tet- loaded PLLA scaffolds in cartilage tissue engi- neering. XPS and FT-IR spectroscopy demon- strated that Tet was contained in the scaffolds. DSC, SEM and XRD confirmed that Tet did not change the morphous, crystallinity and ther- modynamics of the scaffolds. Release studies revealed that Tet was released gradually, ap- proximately 79.15% in 188 days. 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