Collagen Scaffolds Containing Hydroxyapatite-CaO Fiber Fragments for Bone Tissue Engineering

• Published in: Polymers 2020-05, Vol.12 (5), p.1174
• Main Authors: Tsai, Shiao-Wen, Huang, Sheng-Siang, Yu, Wen-Xin, Hsu, Yu-Wei, Hsu, Fu-Yin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkaline phosphatase; Biodegradability; Biomedical materials; Bones; Cell growth; Collagen; Ethanol; Fragments; Grafting; Hydroxyapatite; Mechanical properties; Mineralization; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen; Phosphatase; Pore size; Regeneration (physiology); Scaffolds; Scanning electron microscopy; Skin & tissue grafts; Sol-gel processes; Substitute bone; Surgical implants; Tissue engineering
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/POLYM12051174

Collagen (COL) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) are the major components of bone, therefore, COL-HAp composites have been widely used as bone substitutes to promote bone regeneration. We have reported that HAp-CaO fibers (HANFs), which were fabricated by a sol-gel route followed by an electrospinning technique, possessed good drug-loading efficiency and limited the burst release of tetracycline. In the present study, we used HANF fragments to evaluate the effects of COL-HANF scaffolds on MG63 osteoblast-like cell behaviors. COL-HANF composite scaffolds in which the average diameter of HANFs was approximately 461 ± 186 nm were fabricated by a freeze-drying process. The alkaline phosphatase activity and the protein expression levels of OCN and BSP showed that compared with COL alone, the COL-HANF scaffold promoted the differentiation of MG63 osteoblast-like cells. In addition, the bone regeneration ability of the COL-HANF scaffold was examined by using a rabbit condylar defect model in vivo. The COL-HANF scaffold was biodegradable and promoted bone regeneration eight weeks after the operation. Hence, we concluded that the COL-HANF scaffold has potential as a bone graft for bone tissue engineering.