Biomineralization Guided by Paper Templates.
This work demonstrates the fabrication of partially mineralized scaffolds fabricated in 3D shapes using paper by folding, and by supporting deposition of calcium phosphate by osteoblasts cultured in these scaffolds. This process generates centimeter-scale free-standing structures composed of paper supporting regions of calcium phosphate deposited by osteoblasts. This work is the first demonstration that paper can be used as a scaffold to induce template-guided mineralization by osteoblasts. Because paper has a porous structure, it allows transport of O2 and nutrients across its entire thickness. Paper supports a uniform distribution of cells upon seeding in hydrogel matrices, and allows growth, remodelling, and proliferation of cells. Scaffolds made of paper make it possible to construct 3D tissue models easily by tuning material properties such as thickness, porosity, and density of chemical functional groups. Paper offers a new approach to study mechanisms of biomineralization, and perhaps ultimately new techniques to guide or accelerate the repair of bone.
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Gulden
G
Camci-Unal
Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB-CSIC, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Catalunya, E-08193 Spain.
Anna
A
Laromaine
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Estrella
E
Hong
Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G2, Canada.
Ratmir
R
Derda
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.|Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, 60 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
George M
GM
Whitesides
D000818:Animals; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D051379:Mice; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D010209:Paper; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D002130:Calcium Phosphates; C020243:calcium phosphate