Dendrimer crosslinked collagen as a corneal tissue engineering scaffold: Mechanical properties and corneal epithelial cell interactions

Generation 2 polypropyleneimine octaamine dendrimers were used to generate highly crosslinked collagen with mechanical properties that would make it appropriate for use as a corneal tissue-engineering scaffold. Crosslinking of a highly concentrated collagen solution (2-4%) was effected using the water-soluble carbodiimide 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC). The multifunctional dendrimers were introduced as novel …