Fabrication of porous scaffolds with protein nanogels

A novel type of porous scaffold was fabricated from single protein nanogels. The nanogels with single protein as core and crosslinked polymer network as shell were prepared through a two-step procedure including surface acryloylation and in situ radical polymerization. The formation of single protein nanogels was verified by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses. Subsequently, the porous scaffolds were fabricated through a solvent evaporating process of aqueous nanogel solutions. The porous scaffolds were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and fluorescence microscopy. Interestingly, the obtained porous nanogel scaffolds presented multi-level porous morphologies with macro and nano scale pores, providing better spaces and microenvironments than normal macro porous scaffolds. Cell proliferation assay of nanogels showed low cytotoxicity. Considering that both the protein species and polymer constitutes can be pre-designed and adjusted, these multi-level porous nanogel scaffolds are promising candidates for tissue culture applications. © Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.