Silk coating on a bioactive ceramic scaffold for bone regeneration: effective enhancement of mechanical and in vitro osteogenic properties towards load-bearing applications

Abstract

Bioactive ceramic scaffolds represent competitive choices for clinical bone reconstruction, but their widespread use is restricted by inherent brittleness and weak mechanical performance under load. This study reports the development of strong and tough bioactive scaffolds suitable for use in load-bearing bone reconstruction. A strong and bioactive ceramic scaffold (strontium-hardystonite-gahnite) is combined with single and multiple coating layers of silk fibroin to enhance its toughness, producing composite scaffolds which match the mechanical properties of cancellous bone and show enhanced capacity to promote in vitro osteogenesis. Also reported for the first time is a comparison of the coating effects obtained when a polymeric material is coated on ceramic scaffolds with differing microstructures, namely the strontium-hardystonite-gahnite scaffold with high-density struts as opposed to a conventional ceramic scaffold, such as biphasic calcium phosphate, with low-density struts. The results show that silk coating on a unique ceramic scaffold can lead to simple and effective enhancement of its mechanical and biological properties to suit a wider range of applications in clinical bone reconstruction, and also establish the influence of ceramic microstructure on the effectiveness of silk coating as a method of reinforcement when applied to different types of ceramic bone graft substitutes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley& Sons, Ltd.

Doped Calcium Silicate Ceramics: A New Class of Candidates for Synthetic Bone Substitutes

“…Hexagonal pores were found to give the highest compressive strength of 90 MPa at 70% porosity, which was within the reported range of values for cortical bone (Figure 7) [66]. Sr-HT-Gahnite scaffolds also exhibited high bioactivity and osteogenic ability both in vitro and in vivo, which supported their development as an effective bone substitute [113,115]. …”

A Novel Bone Substitute with High Bioactivity, Strength, and Porosity for Repairing Large and Load‐Bearing Bone Defects

“…We have also developed the technology to produce 3D printed Sr‐HT‐Gahnite scaffolds with high porosity (70%) and full interconnectivity (100%) . To date, we have demonstrated that these scaffolds possess mechanical strength matching cortical bone, combined with outstanding bioactivity and ability to induce osteogenesis in vitro and in vivo (in rabbits) . This study is the next step in progressing the Sr‐HT‐Gahnite scaffolds to clinical use, by validating their performance in a clinically relevant large animal model.…”

Surfactant‐assisted‐water‐exposed versus surfactant‐aqueous‐solution‐exposed electrospinning of novel super hydrophilic Polycaprolactone‐based fibers: Cell culture studies

“…Additionally, Mechanical features of the scaffold must fully adapt to the specific regenerating tissue . The scaffold should not collapse, lose its integrity and degrade faster than the formation of ECM during the bone tissue regeneration . Electrospinning is a promising way of producing interconnected porous nanofibrous structures from natural and synthetic polymers .…”

“…4 The scaffold should not collapse, lose its integrity and degrade faster than the formation of ECM during the bone tissue regeneration. 5 Electrospinning is a promising way of producing interconnected porous nanofibrous structures from natural and synthetic polymers. 6 Among all, Polycaprolactone (PCL) is one of the most widely used synthetic polymers in the biomedical field.…”