Biological activity of a chitosan-carboxymethylcellulose-zinc oxide and calcium carbonate in 3D scaffolds stabilized by physical links for bone tissue engineering

Abstract

Today, regenerative osteogenesis represents a clinical need, due to the incidence of bone defects that involve groups of pathologies ranging from congenital anomalies to traumatic injuries, as well as problems presented surgically. This is why the design of a polymeric biomaterial (scaffold) of chitosan, carboxymethylcellulose, zinc oxide, and calcium carbonate with similar characteristics in terms of composition and bone structure offers high potential to help address this health problem. The technique for obtaining the scaffolds of this research was to develop a physical hydrogel to have the biofunctionality of the active groups of the polymer chains used, then make use of the lyophilization process to obtain three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds. The physicochemical and biological properties of the scaffolds were evaluated. The scaffolds presented morphology with pore size and interconnectivity that favor the need for cell proliferation and viability. The biocompatibility tests confirm that the designed scaffolds do not present cytotoxicity and the analyzes with alizarin red staining show calcium deposits in the materials with CaCO3 and ZnO. Osteoinduction assays to osteogenic lineage using runt-related transcription factor type 2 (RUNX2) and collagen type 1 (COL-1) antibodies allowed expression in differentiated cells. Therefore, the calcium carbonate-containing scaffolds stabilized by physical bonds have characteristics of being non-cytotoxic, bioactive, and osteoinductive, which motivate their use in future tests to evaluate their demeanor with rat models for bone engineering studies.

Exploring the Osteogenic Potential of Zinc-Doped Magnesium Phosphate Cement (ZMPC): A Novel Material for Orthopedic Bone Defect Repair

“…It is the only metal constituent of all six classes of enzymes [21], serves as a cofactor for alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and participates in bone tissue metabolism [22]. Studies have indicated that zinc plays a significant role in bone tissue formation in in vitro experiments with osteoblasts [23,24]. Seo et al's research demonstrated that zinc treatment of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells affected their proliferation, collagen synthesis, and the activity of the bone marker protein alkaline phosphatase (ALP) [25].…”