title: β-Tricalcium phosphate/poly(glycerol sebacate) scaffolds with robust mechanical property for bone tissue engineering.
abstract: Despite good biocompatibility and osteoconductivity, porous β-TCP scaffolds still lack the structural stability and mechanical robustness, which greatly limit their application in the field of bone regeneration. The hybridization of β-TCP with conventional synthetic biodegradable PLA and PCL only produced a limited toughening effect due to the plasticity of the polymers in nature. In this study, a β-TCP/poly(glycerol sebacate) scaffold (β-TCP/PGS) with well interconnected porous structure and robust mechanical property was prepared. Porous β-TCP scaffold was first prepared with polyurethane sponge as template and then impregnated into PGS pre-polymer solution with moderate viscosity, followed by in situ heat crosslinking and freezing-drying process. The results indicated that the freezing-drying under vacuum process could further facilitate crosslinking of PGS and formation of Ca(2+)-COO(-) ionic complexing and thus synergistically improved the mechanical strength of the β-TCP/PGS with in situ heat crosslinking. Particularly, the β-TCP/PGS with 15% PGS content after heat crosslinking at 130°C and freezing-drying at -50°C under vacuum exhibited an elongation at break of 375±25% and a compressive strength of 1.73MPa, 3.7-fold and 200-fold enhancement compared to the β-TCP, respectively. After the abrupt drop of compressive load, the β-TCP/PGS scaffolds exhibited a full recovery of their original shape. More importantly, the PGS polymer in the β-TCP/PGS scaffolds could direct the biomineralization of Ca/P from particulate shape into a nanofiber-interweaved structure. Furthermore, the β-TCP/PGS scaffolds allowed for cell penetration and proliferation, indicating a good cytobiocompatibility. It is believed that β-TCP/PGS scaffolds have great potential application in rigid tissue regeneration.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Yifan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China. Electronic address: yulinli@ecust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yulin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China. Electronic address: yyuan@ecust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China; Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China. Electronic address: liucs@ecust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Changsheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry*; D002118:Calcium / Q000737:chemistry; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D003651:Decanoates / Q000737:chemistry*; D005990:Glycerol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D003651:Decanoates; D011108:Polymers; D011140:Polyurethanes; C485817:beta-tricalcium phosphate; C469892:poly(glycerol-sebacate); D005990:Glycerol; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Bone regeneration; Poly(glycerol sebacate); Porous scaffold; Robust mechanical property; β-Tricalcium phosphate