A 3D-Printed PLCL Scaffold Coated with Collagen Type I and Its Biocompatibility

Abstract

Scaffolds play an important role in tissue engineering and their structure and biocompatibility have great influence on cell behaviors. In this study, poly(l-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) scaffolds were printed by a 3D printing technology, low-temperature deposition manufacturing (LDM), and then PLCL scaffolds were treated by alkali and coated with collagen type I (COLI). The scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), porosity test, mechanical test, and infrared spectroscopy. The prepared PLCL and PLCL-COLI scaffolds had three-dimensional (3D) porous structure and they not only have macropores but also have micropores in the deposited lines. Although the mechanical property of PLCL-COLI was slightly lower than that of PLCL scaffold, the hydrophilicity of PLCL-COLI was significantly enhanced. Rabbit articular chondrocytes were extracted and were identified as chondrocytes by toluidine blue staining. To study the biocompatibility, the chondrocytes were seeded on scaffolds for 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days. MTT assay showed that the proliferation of chondrocytes on PLCL-COLI scaffold was better than that on PLCL scaffold. And the morphology of cells on PLCL-COLI after 1-day culture was much better than that on PLCL. This 3D-printed PLCL scaffold coated with COLI shows a great potential application in tissue engineering.

Review of Synthetic and Hybrid Scaffolds in Cartilage Tissue Engineering

“…Currently, few hybrid scaffolds have undergone clinical trials. One of them is Chondrotissue ® (Biotissue) [ 158 , 166 ]. This resorbable membrane is composed of PGA and HA and is used in clinical contexts through a one-step treatment method.…”

“…The compressive modulus of the membrane was, moreover, 0.21 MPa (similar to human cartilage). This scaffold provides good outcomes and has promise as an implant in cartilage repair [ 166 ]. Next, a C2C1H scaffold was obtained and characterized by Haaparanta et al This scaffold was composed of collagen, chitosan, and PLA.…”

Stem Cells and Extrusion 3D Printing for Hyaline Cartilage Engineering

“…Synthetic polymers are human-made materials that are already widely used in cartilage tissue engineering for their well-characterized and stable chemical properties. Polymers such as poly(ethylene)-glycol (PEG), polycaprolactone (PCL), or polyglycolic acid (PGA) can be combined or coated with hydrogels or natural polymers to enhance their biocompatibility [ 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 ]. Another class of material developing is nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for their physico-chemical properties [ 95 ].…”

High Throughput Manufacturing of Bio-Resorbable Micro-Porous Scaffolds Made of Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) by Micro-Extrusion for Soft Tissue Engineering Applications

“…In particular, the PLCL with 70/30 L-lactide/ε-caprolactone proportion enhances the proliferation of Schwann cells and is commonly used for neural guide conduit fabrication for peripheral nerve healing [26][27][28]. Particle leaching is the most common technique to create porous scaffolds [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. This technique allows for the production of scaffolds with well interconnected pores, whose characteristics are controlled by particle proportion, size, and distribution.…”

“…Most of the current porous scaffold manufacturing techniques are based on obtaining films [4,34,35] or more complex three dimensional (3D) geometries (like tubes) [6,18,23] by means of solvent exchange or evaporation, or more novel technologies like 3D printing [42,43] and electrospinning [44], which consist of material deposition. These methods allow for the production of a high degree of porosity, up to 90% [4,10,23,32,33,36], and are successfully used to prepare testing samples. However, they show low manufacturing throughput, limitations in size and resolution, and are difficult to implement in industrial processes.…”