In this study, the porous PLLA microfiber scaffold was developed by electrospinning method to maintain the nutrient supply into cultured cartilage. Porous fiber scaffold and solid fiber scaffold were fabricated by spinning poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA)/polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution and PLLA solution respectively with an electrospinning unit. According to SEM observation, porous structure was confirmed in the porous fiber and fiber diameter of both types of fibers were about 5.5 μm Porcine chondrocytes mixed in collagen type I gel were seeded in the both scaffolds. Live cells and dead cells were observed in the both fiber scaffolds as cell viability observation by using a multiphoton microscopy. After 28 days of cultivation, dead cells for the porous fiber scaffold was less than those for the solid fiber scaffold, and synthesized glycosaminoglycan (GAG) for the porous fiber scaffold was higher than that for the solid fiber scaffold. According to fluorescent observation of penetration of rhodamine B solution through the porous fiber scaffold embedded in agarose gel, mesh-like fluorescent image was observed and luminance value of the image increased with diffusion of rhodamine B solution through the porous fiber scaffold. These results showed that the developed porous fiber scaffold can maintain the nutrient supply into the cultured cartilage and inhibit cell death during cultivation.
