Polylactic acid fibre-reinforced polycaprolactone scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.
The employment of composite scaffolds with a well-organized architecture and multi-scale porosity certainly represents a valuable approach for achieving a tissue engineered construct to reproduce the middle and long-term behaviour of hierarchically complex tissues such as spongy bone. In this paper, fibre-reinforced composites scaffold for bone tissue engineering applications is described. These are composed of poly-L-lactide acid (PLLA) fibres embedded in a porous poly(epsilon-caprolactone) matrix, and were obtained by synergistic use of phase inversion/particulate leaching technique and filament winding technology. Porosity degree as high as 79.7% was achieved, the bimodal pore size distribution showing peaks at ca 10 and 200 microm diameter, respectively, accounting for 53.7% and 46.3% of the total porosity. In vitro degradation was carried out in PBS and SBF without significant degradation of the scaffold after 35 days, while in NaOH solution, a linear increase of weight lost was observed with preferential degradation of PLLA component. Subsequently, marrow stromal cells (MSC) and human osteoblasts (HOB) reached a plateau at 3 weeks, while at 5 weeks the number of cells was almost the same. Human marrow stromal cell and trabecular osteoblasts rapidly proliferate on the scaffold up to 3 weeks, promoting an oriented migration of bone cells along the fibre arrangement. Moreover, the role of seeded HOB and MSC on composite degradation mechanism was assessed by demonstrating a more relevant contribution to PLLA degradation of MSC when compared to HOB. The novel PCL/PLLA composite scaffolds thus showed promise whenever tuneable porosity, controlled degradability and guided cell-material interaction are simultaneously requested.
Institute of Composite and Biomedical Materials (IMCB-CNR), P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy.
Vincenzo
V
Guarino
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Magna Graecia, Germaneto, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
Filippo
F
Causa
Department of Biochemsitry "G. Moruzzi", Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8/2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Paola
P
Taddei
Department of Biochemsitry "G. Moruzzi", Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8/2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Michele
M
di Foggia
Laboratory for Pathophysiology of Orthopaedic Implants, Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli, Via di Barbiano 1/10, 40136 Bologna, Italy.
Gabriela
G
Ciapetti
Department of Human Anatomy, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Desirèe
D
Martini
Department of Biochemsitry "G. Moruzzi", Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 8/2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Concezio
C
Fagnano
Laboratory for Pathophysiology of Orthopaedic Implants, Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli, Via di Barbiano 1/10, 40136 Bologna, Italy.
Nicola
N
Baldini
Institute of Composite and Biomedical Materials (IMCB-CNR), P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy.
Luigi
L
Ambrosio
D001846:Bone Development; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D023822:Tissue Engineering
D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; C016240:polycaprolactone; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide)