Methods of N-acetylated chitosan scaffolds and its in vitro biodegradation by lysozyme

Generally, the lysozyme degradation on chitosan (CTS) is slower than that on chitin (CT). The CTS can be fabricated in scaffold form but it is difficult to fabricate CT scaffold under mild conditions. The method for the preparation of scaffold from N-acetylated CTS (N-CTS) was investigated in this research. By using this method, the scaffolds could be fabricated chitosan to chitin with the degree of acetylation (DA) in a range of 18% 70%. Among these scaffolds, the highest degradation of scaffold by lysozyme was observed on the N-CTS scaffold with DA 60%, which determined by examination of the reducing end contents in the degradation media and by measuring the weight loss of scaffolds. Moreover, the best condition for the degradation of N-CTS scaffold with DA 70% by lysozyme was also investigated. The maximum degradation rate of the scaffold was observed on the treatment with lysozyme 500 mg/l of acetate buffer at pH 4.5, 37 ̊C, 100 rpm and for 7 days.