title: Three dimensional electrospun PCL/PLA blend nanofibrous scaffolds with significantly improved stem cells osteogenic differentiation and cranial bone formation.
abstract: Nanofibrous scaffolds that are morphologically/structurally similar to natural ECM are highly interested for tissue engineering; however, the electrospinning technique has the difficulty in directly producing clinically relevant 3D nanofibrous scaffolds with desired structural properties. To address this challenge, we have developed an innovative technique of thermally induced nanofiber self-agglomeration (TISA) recently. The aim of this work was to prepare (via the TISA technique) and evaluate 3D electrospun PCL/PLA blend (mass ratio: 4/1) nanofibrous scaffolds having high porosity of ∼95.8% as well as interconnected and hierarchically structured pores with sizes from sub-micrometers to ∼300 μm for bone tissue engineering. The hypothesis was that the incorporation of PLA (with higher mechanical stiffness/modulus and bioactivity) into PCL nanofibers would significantly improve human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) osteogenic differentiation in vitro and bone formation in vivo. Compared to neat PCL-3D scaffolds, PCL/PLA-3D blend scaffolds had higher mechanical properties and in vitro bioactivity; as a result, they not only enhanced the cell viability of hMSCs but also promoted the osteogenic differentiation. Furthermore, our in vivo studies revealed that PCL/PLA-3D scaffolds considerably facilitated new bone formation in a critical-sized cranial bone defect mouse model. In summary, both in vitro and in vivo results indicated that novel 3D electrospun PCL/PLA blend nanofibrous scaffolds would be strongly favorable/desired for hMSCs osteogenic differentiation and cranial bone formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD 57107, USA.
authors.forename: Qingqing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Program of Biomedical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, USA; Institute of Macromolecules, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-901, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jaqueline G L
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Cosme
authors.affiliation: Program of Biomedical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, USA.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD 57107, USA.
authors.forename: Jacob M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Miszuk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Macromolecules, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-901, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo H S
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Picciani
authors.affiliation: Program of Biomedical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, USA. Electronic address: Hao.Fong@sdsmt.edu.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD 57107, USA. Electronic address: Hongli.Sun@usd.edu.
authors.forename: Hongli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004595:Electroplating / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D008297:Male; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional; D012399:Rotation; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; C553659:polycaprolactone-co-lactide
keywords: 3D electrospun nanofibrous scaffold; Bone regeneration; Osteogenic differentiation; Polycaprolactone; Polylactic acid