Development of Composite Poly(Lactide-<I>co</I>-Glycolide)-Nanodiamond Scaffolds for Bone Cell Growth

Abstract

There are relatively few nanotechnologies that can produce nanocomposite scaffolds for cell growth. Electrospinning has emerged as the foremost method of producing nanofibrous biomimetic scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. In this study diamond nanoparticles were integrated into a polymer solution to develop a nanocomposite scaffold containing poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) loaded with diamond nanoparticles. To investigate the effect of adding diamond nanoparticles to PLGA scaffolds, primary human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were seeded on the scaffolds. The cytocompatibility results showed that addition of diamond nanoparticles did not impinge upon cell proliferation, nor was there a cytotoxic cellular response after 9 days in culture. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and confocal microscopy enabled qualitative characterization of the fibres and revealed cell morphology and number. Furthermore, surface roughness was measured to evaluate diamond nanoparticle modifications, and no significant difference was found between the diamond nanocomposite and pure polymer scaffolds. On the other hand, bright spots on phase images performed by atomic force microscopy suggested a higher hardness at certain points on fibers of the PLGA-nanodiamond composites, which was supported by nanoindentation measurements. This study shows that PLGA nanofibers can be reinforced with nanodiamond without adversely affecting cell behaviour, and thus it sets the foundation for future application of these scaffolds in bone tissue engineering.

Nanostructured scaffold as a determinant of stem cell fate

“…The major drawback of CNTs is the presence of impurities of carbonaceous particles such as nanocrystalline graphite, amorphous carbon, fullerenes, and different metals (typically Fe, Co, Mo or Ni) used as catalysts during the synthesis phase, and also concerns with toxicity as they are resistant to degradation in vivo [51, 57]. More recently, other forms of carbonaceous nanoparticles such as graphene and nanodiamonds are also being investigated [58, 59]. …”

Nanofibrous Scaffolds as Promising Cell Carriers for Tissue Engineering

“…Our PLGA-nanodiamond nanofibrous scaffolds supported the adhesion and growth of human osteoblast-like MG 63 cells to a similar degree as the pure PLGA nanofibrous scaffolds [68] but accelerated the growth of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells [61] (Figure 8). However, when nanodiamond nanoparticles were incorporated into PLA nanofibrous scaffolds, they had rather negative effects on human osteoblast-like MG 63 and Saos-2 cells.…”

“…Nanofibrous scaffolds can be associated with another advanced technique in recent tissue engineering-controlled delivery of various types of stem cells, such as bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells [51,[61][62][63], adipose tissue-derived stem cells [64,65], neural tissue-derived stem cells [57], and induced pluripotent stem cells [20,34], and their appropriate differentiation into desired cell types.…”

Multifunctional nanodiamonds in regenerative medicine: Recent advances and future directions

“…Brady et al . showed that electrospun PLGA nanocomposite bone scaffolds could be reinforced by the addition of DNDs [158]. PLGA nanocomposites with 2.3 wt% DNDs exhibited a two-fold increase in both elastic modulus and hardness.…”