The
periosteum plays a very important role in bone remodeling and
regeneration due to its excellent osteogenic ability. However, in
bone defects, the periosteum is inevitably damaged, has poor self-repair
ability, and requires artificial materials as a substitute. This study
is aimed to fabricate a highly bioactive poly(ε-caprolactone)/tricalcium
phosphate sol (PCL/TCP sol) hybrid membrane as an artificial periosteum
covering the surface of the bone defect to enhance bone regeneration.
Three kinds of PCL membranes with different TCP contents were prepared
and marked as P20T1 (4.8 wt %), P10T1 (9.1 wt %), and P5T1 (16.7 wt
%). The physicochemical properties’ evaluation confirmed that
TCP sol was homogeneously dispersed in the PCL nanofibers. Compared
with P5T1, samples P10T1 and P20T1 had enhanced the mechanical properties
and a moderately hydrophilic surface (67.3 ± 2.4° for P20T1
and 48.9 ± 4.1° for P10T1). The biomineralization of hybrid
membranes was significantly improved compared to the PCL membrane.
Moreover, hybrid membranes significantly upregulated the rat bone
marrow mesenchymal stem cells’ (rBMSCs) response (proliferation
and osteogenic differentiation) to them, and P10T1 showed better surface
properties (hydrophilicity, bioactivity, and biomineralization) than
P20T1. Thus, sample P10T1 with the best properties in this study has
great potential as an artificial periosteum to accelerate bone regeneration.