With advances in
bone tissue engineering, various materials and
methods have been explored to find a better scaffold that can help
in improving bone growth and regeneration. Three-dimensional (3D)
printing by fused deposition modeling can produce customized scaffolds
from biodegradable polyesters such as polycaprolactone (PCL). Although
the fabricated PCL scaffolds exhibited a lack of bioactivity and poor
cell attachment on their surfaces, herein, using a simple postfabrication
modification method with hydroxyapatite (HA) and bioglasses (BGs),
we obtained better cell proliferation and attachment. Biological behavior
and osteosupportive capacity of the 3D-printed scaffolds including
PCL, PCL/HA, PCL/BG, and PCL/HA/BG were evaluated in this study, while
human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) were
cultured on the scaffolds. The cell morphology, attachment, and proliferation
were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl
tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole
(DAPI) staining. In the next step, the ability of stem cells to differentiate
into osteoblasts was evaluated by measuring alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
activity, calcium deposition, and bone-related gene and protein expression.
In the end, the expression levels of miR-20a, miR-125a, and their
target genes were also investigated as positive and negative regulators
in osteogenesis pathways. The results showed that the coated scaffolds
with bioceramics present a more appropriate surface for cell adhesion
and proliferation, as well as efficient potential in inducing osteoconduction
and osteointegration compared to PCL alone and control. The PCL/HA/BG
scaffold exhibited higher in vitro cell viability and bone formation
compared to the other groups, which can be due to the synergistic
effect of HA and BG. On the whole, this tricomponent 3D-printing scaffold
has a promising prospect for bone tissue engineering applications.