Biodegradable polymeric microcarriers with controllable porous structure for tissue engineering.

Porous microspheres fabricated by biodegradable polymers show great potential as microcarriers for cell cultivation in tissue engineering. Herein biodegradable poly(DL-lactide) (PLA) was used to fabricate porous microspheres through a modified double emulsion solvent evaporation method. The influence of fabrication parameters, such as the stirring speed of the primary and secondary emulsion, the polymer concentration of the oil phase, and solvent type, as well as the post-hydrolysis treatment of the porous structure of the PLA microspheres are discussed. Good attachment and an active spread of MG-63 cells on the microspheres is observed, which indicates that the PLA microspheres with controllable porous structure are of great potential as cell delivery carriers for tissue engineering.