| Method |
Abstract: "Bioartificial liver (BAL) system has emerged as an alternative treatment to bridge acute liver failure to either liver transplantation or liver regeneration. One of the main reasons that the efficacy of the current BAL systems was not convincing in clinical trials is attributed to the lack of friendly interface between the membrane and the hepatocytes in liver bioreactor, the core unit of BAL system. Here, [investigators] systematically compared the biological responses of hepatosarcoma HepG2 cells seeded on eight, commercially available biocompatible membranes made of acetyl cellulose-nitrocellulose mixed cellulose (CA-NC), acetyl cellulose (CA), nylon (JN), polypropylene (PP), nitrocellulose (NC), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polycarbonate (PC) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)." PS=polystyrene plates |
| Comments |
P.23 right column 2nd & 3rd paragraphs: "Mechanical properties of distinct membranes: Next, [investigators] measured the mechanical properties of each membrane using indentation protocol of AFM [Atomic-force microscopy] assay and compression Young's modulus was compared among eight types of membranes. As shown in Table 2, the compression modulus was different from each other. JN, PP and PS membranes yield much higher compression modulus (5.95-6.91 MPa) than those for CA-NC, CA, NC, PVDF, PC and PTEF membranes (3.04-3.96 MPa). Tensile properties are also critical when stretching the membrane onto substrate. Thus, tensile modulus and strength were determined and compared for all the membranes. Here, four noteworthy artificial membranes of CA, JN, NC and PC yield much higher tensile modulus (397-707 MPa) than those for CA-NC, PP, PVDF and PIFE membranes (102-188 MPa), which is positively correlated to the difference in tensile strength between the former four membranes (9.27-23.8 MPa) and the latter four membranes (2.63-5.10 MPa). It was also noted that the control PS membrane yield similar compression modulus but very high tensile modulus (Table 2). Taken together, CA, JN and PP membranes tend to be potential candidates for supporting mechanically cell growth with commendable mechanical strength and surface topography. These members are ideal materials to support cell growth and are suitable to become biocompatible and friendly interface, such as BAL [bioartificial liver] systems." See measurement method for abbreviations. |