title: Biocomposite scaffolds for bone regeneration: Role of chitosan and hydroxyapatite within poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate on mechanical properties and in vitro evaluation.
abstract: Bio-engineered scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration is an exploding area of research mainly because they can satisfy the essential demands and current challenges in bone replacement therapies, by imitating the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the native bone. We fabricated bio-composite nanofibrous scaffolds with a blend of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV), chitosan (CTS) and hydroxyapatite (HA) during this study. Morphological evaluation confirmed the fiber diameters of PHBV, PHBV/CTS (90:10), PHBV/CTS/HA4 (85.5:9.5:5) and PHBV/CTS/HA8 (81:9:10) as 405 ± 74 nm, 334 ± 82 nm, 316 ± 103 nm and 256 ± 110 nm, respectively. The PHBV/CTS/HA4 and PHBV/CTS/HA8 scaffolds were capable of enduring the long term culture of human fetal osteoblasts (hFOB) with ultimate tensile strength of 3.55 ± 0.22 MPa and 4.19 ± 0.19 MPa, respectively. The proliferation of osteoblasts on PHBV/CTS/HA8 scaffold was found 34.10% higher than that on PHBV scaffold on day 20. Cell maturation identified by alkaline phosphatase activity on day 20 was significantly higher on PHBV/CTS/HA8 scaffold than that on PHBV scaffold. The cells on PHBV/CTS/HA8 scaffold also acquired higher mineral deposition (25.79%) than the mineral deposition on PHBV scaffold by day 20, confirmed by EDX analysis. Based on the results, we concluded that the electrospun PHBV/CTS/HA8 scaffolds hold great potential to promote the regeneration of bone tissue due to the synergistic effect of chitosan and HA, whereby chitosan provided cell recognition sites while HA acted as a chelating agent for organizing the apatite-like mineralization.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Textile Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China; Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 2 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
authors.forename: Sai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 2 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576, Singapore. Electronic address: nnimpp@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Molamma P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Prabhakaran
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Textile Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China. Electronic address: xhqin@dhu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 2 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
authors.forename: Seeram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramakrishna
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D048271:Chitosan; D017886:Durapatite; D011091:Polyesters; C052620:poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(3-hydroxyvalerate); D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
keywords: Biological investigations; Bone tissue regeneration; Chitosan; Hydroxyapatite; Mechanical properties; Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate