The Osteogenesis of Bone Marrow Stem Cells on mPEG-PCL-mPEG/Hydroxyapatite Composite Scaffold via Solid Freeform Fabrication

Abstract

The study described a novel bone tissue scaffold fabricated by computer-aided, air pressure-aided deposition system to control the macro- and microstructure precisely. The porcine bone marrow stem cells (PBMSCs) seeded on either mPEG-PCL-mPEG (PCL) or mPEG-PCL-mPEG/hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) composite scaffold were cultured under osteogenic medium to test the ability of osteogenesis in vitro. The experimental outcomes indicated that both scaffolds possessed adequate pore size, porosity, and hydrophilicity for the attachment and proliferation of PBMSCs and the PBMSCs expressed upregulated genes of osteogensis and angiogenesis in similar manner on both scaffolds. The major differences between these two types of the scaffolds were the addition of HA leading to higher hardness of PCL/HA scaffold, cell proliferation, and VEGF gene expression in PCL/HA scaffold. However, the in vivo bone forming efficacy between PBMSCs seeded PCL and PCL/HA scaffold was different from the in vitro results. The outcome indicated that the PCL/HA scaffold which had bone-mimetic environment due to the addition of HA resulted in better bone regeneration and mechanical strength than those of PCL scaffold. Therefore, providing a bone-mimetic scaffold is another crucial factor for bone tissue engineering in addition to the biocompatibility, 3D architecture with high porosity, and interpored connection.

Processing of polycaprolactone and hydroxyapatite to fabricate graded electrospun composites for tendon-bone interface regeneration

“…Apparently, the incorporation of nHA ceramic nanoparticles into PCL decreases the contact angle from 120.01±2.77° to 115.24±1.17° upon increase of surface energy, which is also consistent with earlier studies [5,25]. In addition, since PCL is a hydrophobic polymer and nHA is relatively hydrophilic, addition of nHA particles into PCL should result in reduced contact angle, which was the case in this study.…”

Nanoengineered biomaterials for repair and regeneration of orthopedic tissue interfaces

“…To overcome these limitations, recent approaches have shifted towards additive manufacturing. Some of the additive manufacturing approaches that can be used to engineer interface tissues include 3D printing, [133][134][135] stereolithography, air pressure aided deposition, [136,137] and robotic dispensing [138][139][140]. These freeform prototyping techniques face problems of bio-printability, which limit the use of printing cells with the scaffolds.…”

3D printed polymer–mineral composite biomaterials for bone tissue engineering: Fabrication and characterization

“…Different printing technologies were used to develop 3D scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications (Table ). Fused Deposition Modeling was the most frequently used printing technology as it was employed in 38 studies (Figure ) . Low‐temperature deposition manufacturing was used in 11 studies, selective laser sintering in seven studies, Stereolitography in three studies …”

“…PCL, PLA, and PLGA were the most used polymers. PCL was the most used polymer as it was found in 29 articles . PLA was used in 13 studies and PLGA in 14 studies .…”