Abstract
This study elucidated the
in vitro physicomechanical transitions of a crosslinked polylactic-
co-glycolic acid (PLGA) scaffold, utilizing quantum mechanics to compute the
ab initio energy requirements of a salted-out and subsequently crosslinked PLGA scaffold interacting with simulated physiological fluid, phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (pH 7.4, 37
°C) at a molecular level. Twenty-six salted-out PLGA scaffolds were formulated using a four factor, two centerpoint quadratic Face-Centered Central Composite Design (FCCD). PLGA molecular mass, PLGA concentration, water volume and salting-out reaction time were the dependant formulation variables. Subsequent to PLGA solubilization in dimethyl formamide (DMF), protonated water was added to induce salting-out of PLGA into a scaffolds that were immersed in PBS, oscillated at 100
rpm, and analyzed at pre-determined time intervals for their physicomechanical and
ab initio quantum energy transitions. Results indicated that the matrix resilience (MR) decreased with longer incubation periods (MR=35–45%) at day 30. Scaffolds salted-out using higher PLGA concentrations exhibited minimal changes in MR and the matrix ability to absorb energy was found to closely correlate with the scaffold residence time in PBS. Spartan-based
ab initio quantum energy predictions elucidated the potential scaffold stability from a molecular viewpoint and its suitability for use in rate-modulated drug delivery.