Biomimetic cellulose/calcium-deficient-hydroxyapatite composite scaffolds fabricated using an electric field for bone tissue engineering

Abstract

Cellulose has been widely used as micro/nanofibers in various applications of tissue regeneration, but has certain limitations for bone regeneration, e.g., low biocompatibility in inducing osteogenesis. In addition, the low processability from the decomposition property before melting can be a significant obstacle to fabricating a required complex structure through a 3D-printing process. Herein, to overcome the low osteogenic activity of pure cellulose, we suggest a new cellulose-based composite scaffold consisting of cellulose and a high weight fraction (70 wt%) of calcium-deficient-hydroxyapatite (CDHA), which was obtained from the hydrolysis of a-tricalcium phosphate. Using biocompatible components, we fabricated a 3D pore-structure controllable composite scaffold consisting of microfibrous bundles through an electrohydrodynamic printing (EHDP) process supplemented with an ethanol bath. To obtain a mechanically stable and repeatable 3D mesh structure, various process parameters (nozzle-to-target distance, electric field strength, flow rate, and nozzle moving speed) were considered. As a control, a mesh structure fabricated using a normal EHDP process and with a similar pore geometry was used. A variety of cellular responses using preosteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) indicate that a CDHA/cellulose composite scaffold provides an efficient platform for inducing significantly high bone mineralization.

Mechanosensitive Osteogenesis on Native Cellulose Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

“…After 1 week or 2 weeks of stimulation, scaffolds were assessed for change in Young's modulus (Figure 5). Although the measured mechanical properties of the scaffolds were consistent with previous studies (Aliabouzar et al, 2018;Burger et al, 2020;Contessi Negrini et al, 2020;Harris et al, 2021;Kim et al, 2018;Maharjan et al, 2021a;Osborn et al, 2019;Zaborowska et al, 2010;Zhou et al, 2016) we did not observe any statistically significant trends under the various culturing conditions. Data showed no significant changes between samples incubated in osteogenic media with applied hydrostatic pressure and without applied hydrostatic pressure after 1 week (16.1 ± 2.1 kPa and 17.2 ± 3.2 kPa, HP vs CTRL) or 2 weeks (13.9 ± 0.8 kPa and 18.7 ± 0.7 kPa, HP vs CTRL).…”

Synthesis, Characterization, Antibacterial Properties, and In Vitro Studies of Selenium and Strontium Co-Substituted Hydroxyapatite

“…Based on its viscous nature in cement form and excellent compressive strength, HA has been widely used in orthopedic and maxillofacial applications to support bone growth and remodeling [ 2 ]. HA has also been widely utilized in drug delivery applications [ 3 ], bioactive coating material on metallic osseous implants [ 4 , 5 ], for cancer treatment [ 6 ], and as a filler for bio-composites and scaffolds [ 7 , 8 ]. Natural apatite has better physical and biological properties compared to synthetic hydroxyapatite due to a significant amount of ion-substituted impurities [ 9 ], and therefore, increasing research is being carried out to enhance the physical and biological properties of HA by incorporating different elements in its framework [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Lignin: Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering Applications

“…The composite of lignin with polycaprolactone and hydroxyapatite was reported to have a good osteoconductivity for potential bone therapies. 95 , 96 …”