Poly(l-lactide-co-caprolactone) (PLCL,
50:50) has been used in cartilage tissue engineering because of its
high elasticity. However, its mechanical properties, including its
rigidity and viscoelasticity, must be improved for compatibility with
native cartilage. In this study, a set of PLCL/poly(l-lactic
acid) (PLLA) blends was prepared by blending with different mass ratios
of PLLA that range from 10 to 50%, using thermoplastic techniques.
After testing the properties of these PLCL/PLLA blends, they were
used to fabricate scaffolds by the 3D printing technology. The structures
and viscoelastic behavior of the PLCL/PLLA scaffolds were determined,
and then, the potential application of the scaffolds in cartilage
tissue engineering was evaluated by chondrocytes culture. All blends
demonstrate good thermal stability for the 3D printing technology.
All blends show good toughness, while the rigidity of PLCL is increased
through PLLA blending, and Young’s modulus of blends with 10–20%
PLLA is similar to that of native cartilage. Furthermore, blending
with PLLA improves the processability of PLCL for 3D printing, and
the compression modulus and viscoelasticity of 3D-printed PLCL/PLLA
scaffolds are different from that of PLCL. Additionally, the stress
relaxation time (t
1/2) of the PLCL/PLLA
scaffolds, which is important for chondrogenesis, is dramatically
shortened compared with the pure PLCL scaffold at the same 3D-printing
filling rate. Consistently, the PLCL90PLLA10 scaffold at a 70% filling
rate with much shorter t
1/2 is more conducive
to the proliferation and chondrogenesis of in vitro seeded chondrocytes accompanied by upregulated expression of SOX9
than the PLCL scaffold. Taken together, these results demonstrate
that blending with PLLA improves the printability of PLCL and enhances
its potential application, particularly PLCL/PLLA scaffolds with a
low ratio of PLLA, in cartilage tissue engineering.
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