title: Solvent-free polymer/bioceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering: fabrication, analysis, and cell growth.
abstract: This study examines the potential use of porous polycaprolactone (PCL) and polycaprolocatone/hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) scaffolds fabricated through melt molding and porogen leaching for bone tissue engineering. While eliminating organic solvents is desirable, the process steps proposed in this study for uniformly dispersing HA particles (~5 μm in size) within the scaffold can also contribute to homogeneous properties for these porous composites. Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was chosen as a porogen due to its similar density and melting point as PCL. Pore size of the scaffold was controlled by limiting the size of PCL and PEO particles used in fabrication. The percent of HA in the fabricated scaffolds was quantified by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Mechanical testing was used to compare the modulus of the scaffolds to that of bone, and the pore size distribution was examined with microcomputed tomography (μCT). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the effect on scaffold morphology caused by the addition of HA particles. Both μCT and SEM results showed that HA could be incorporated into PCL scaffolds without negatively affecting scaffold morphology or pore formation. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and elemental mapping demonstrated a uniform distribution of HA within PCL/HA scaffolds. Murine calvaria-derived MC3T3-E1 cells were used to determine whether cells could attach on scaffolds and grow for up to 21 days. SEM images revealed an increase in cell attachment with the incorporation of HA into the scaffolds. Similarly, DNA content analysis showed a higher cell adhesion to PCL/HA scaffolds.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering , Miami University , 650 E High Street, Oxford , OH 45056 , USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Minton
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Janney
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Akbarzadeh
authors.forename: Carlie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Focke
authors.forename: Aswati
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: Tyler
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McKinney
authors.forename: Junyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Azizeh-Mitra
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Yousefi
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000737:chemistry*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013817:Thermography; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography
chemical_list: D018786:Bone Substitutes; D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D017886:Durapatite
keywords: bone; cell culture; hydroxyapatite; polycaprolactone; scaffolds; tissue engineering