Evolution of PVA gels prepared without crosslinking agents as a cell adhesive surface

Physical parameters (such as crosslinking
density, crystallinity and mechanical properties) have been
found to largely affect cellular behavior on polymer scaffolds.This study demonstrated that transparent pure Poly
(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels prepared via a freeze–thaw
method can be made to support cell adhesion by controlling
physical parameters such as concentration and the number
of freeze–thaw cycles. For a given number of freeze–thaw
cycles, (specifically 45), polymer concentration dependent
structural and mechanical properties (such as tensile
strength and stiffness) were correlated with cell adhesion.
The maximum cell attachment occurred on the hydrogels
with the greatest mechanical properties, crystallinity and
crosslinking density. The hydrogel surfaces were more
favorable to human dermal fibroblasts than human lens
epithelial cells and retained their transparency as well as
dimensional stability with only a small degree of swelling.
Fibroblast laden hydrogels showed extensive alkaline
phosphatase activity which confirmed their healthy proliferation and function. In this manner, this study suggests that transparent Poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogels prepared bythe freeze thaw method described here should be further studied for numerous tissue engineering applications.