Greater scaffold permeability promotes growth of osteoblastic cells in a perfused bioreactor.
Pore size and porosity have been widely acknowledged as important structural factors in tissue-engineered scaffolds. In fact, scaffolds with similar pore size and porosity can provide important and varied permeability due to different pore shape, interconnectivity and tortuosity. However, the effects of scaffold permeability on seeded cells remains largely unknown during tissue regeneration in vitro. In this study, we measured the Darcy permeability (K) of tri-calcium phosphate scaffolds by distributed them into three groups: Low, Medium and High. As a result, the effects of scaffold permeability on cell proliferation, cellular activity and growth in the inner pores were investigated in perfused and static cultures in vitro. Results demonstrated that higher permeable scaffolds exhibited superior performance during bone regeneration in vitro and the advantages of higher scaffold permeability were amplified in perfused culture. Based on these findings, scaffold permeability should be considered in future scaffold fabrications.
Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Jie
J
Fan
Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Xiaoling
X
Jia
Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Yan
Y
Huang
Department of Biomedical Engineering, the City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, 10031, USA.
Bingmei M
BM
Fu
Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
Yubo
Y
Fan
D000818:Animals; D019149:Bioreactors; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D051379:Mice; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010539:Permeability; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D002130:Calcium Phosphates; C018392:tricalcium phosphate
bone; permeability; pore size; porosity; scaffold; tissue engineering