Electrospun fibrous web of collagen–apatite precipitated nanocomposite for bone regeneration

Abstract

Electrospinning is regarded as a facile tool to generate biomaterials into a nanofibrous structure. Herein a nanofibrous web constituted of collagen and hydroxyapatite (HA) was produced from their co-precipitated nanocomposite solution by using the electrospinning method. The co-precipitated sol was freeze-dried and the dried product was dissolved in an organic solvent for the electrospinning. The electrospun web showed a welldeveloped nanofibrous structure with HA contents of up to 20 wt%. The internal structure of the collagen-20 wt%HA nanofiber revealed highly elongated apatite nanocrystallines precipitated within the collagen matrix. However, above the HA content of 30 wt% the nanofibrous structure could not be preserved due to the formation of beads. The MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells were shown to adhere and grow actively on the collagen-HA nanofibrous web. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity expressed by the cells on the collagen-20 wt%HA nanofiber was lower at day 7, but was higher at day 14 than that on the pure collagen nanofiber. Based on the study, the newly-developed collagen-HA nanofiber may be useful as a cell supporting substrate in bone regeneration area.

Development and characterisation of a collagen nano-hydroxyapatite composite scaffold for bone tissue engineering

“…This paper focuses on the development of a novel composite scaffold for bone regeneration using the two major constituents of bone; collagen type 1 and hydroxyapatite (HA; Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ) nanoparticles (< 100 nm). Collagen is used extensively as a scaffold biomaterial due to its biocompatible and biodegradable properties [8][9][10][11][12]. From an orthopedic perspective however, collagen scaffolds are limited by their poor mechanical characteristics and for this reason many studies, including research in our lab, have combined collagen with calcium phosphates to improve their mechanical properties [13][14][15][16].…”

Engineering on the Straight and Narrow: The Mechanics of Nanofibrous Assemblies for Fiber-Reinforced Tissue Regeneration

“…Further, consideration of soft-hard interfaces, such as tendon insertion sites, 134 may be addressed via selective induction of mineralization and bone formation with inclusion of hydroxyapatite crystals. 135 As these developments occur and, in particular, as advances are made in the area of load-bearing tissue engineering, special attention must be given to the appropriate characterization methods and analysis of mechanical properties of these unique scaffolds. Moreover, production methods must be optimized, such that nanofibrous scaffold production is less of an art, and more of a science.…”

Greener synthesis of electrospun collagen/hydroxyapatite composite fibers with an excellent microstructure for bone tissue engineering

“…However, the collagen/HAP composite was usually fabricated via electrospinning the solution prepared by dissolving collagen and dispersing HAP powders simultaneously in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) or 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE). [40][41][42] Not only can HFIP and TFE induce an apparent loss of the triple helical configuration of collagen, but they can remain a highly volatile and corrosive solvent that poses health risks to humans, as well as its high price. [43][44][45][46] In consideration of the shortcoming of HFIP, several attempts have recently been made at finding more eco and environmentally benign solvents to prepare collagen solutions for electrospinning.…”

“…54,55 In addition, most of the electrospinning solutions (or dispersions) were prepared by a conventional mixing method in which HAP was normally obtained firstly in powders and followed by mixing it with collagen solutions. [40][41][42]56 Consequently, in the prepared collagen/HAP composites, the particle size of HAP was not uniform and the HAP aggregation was often randomly distributed within the collagen matrix. Such a composite was obviously different from the natural bone microstructure, and only had a compositional similarity to that of natural bone.…”