Three-dimensional printing of Fe-containing mesoporous calcium-silicate / poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) composite scaffolds / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional (3D) printing technique has showed unparalleled advantages in the field of tissue engineering scaffold preparation because of its outstanding merits of convenience, efficiency, controllability and ability to construct complex shapes.OBJECTIVE: To fabricate Fe-containing mesoporous calcium-silicate (MCS) /poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) composite scaffolds using the 3D printing technique and to test the characterization and cellular biocompatibility of the composite scaffolds.METHODS: Four groups of Fe-containing MCS/PHBHHx composite scaffolds were fabricated using 3D printing technique. The molar percentage of Fe in these four groups was 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, respectively and they were marked as 0Fe-MCS/PHBHHx, 5Fe-MCS/PHBHHx, 10Fe-MCS/PHBHHx and 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx. The scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the microstructure of the scaffolds after being soaked in the simulated body fluid.Osteoblast cell lines MC3T3-E1 were seeded on these four groups of scaffolds as well. Cell counting kit-8 method was adopted to test the cell proliferation at 1, 3, 7 days of culture. Intracellular alkaline phosphatase activity was tested at 7 and 14 days of culture.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Compared with the scaffolds with no soaking process, spherical particles were formed on the scaffolds because of mineralization after soaking 3 days in the simulated body fluid. (2) At 1 day of culture,there was no difference in cell proliferation among the four groups. At 3 days of culture, the proliferation rate of the 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffold was remarkably higher than that of the rest three groups (P < 0.05). At 7 days of culture,the proliferation rate was significantly higher in the 10Fe-MCS/PHBHH and 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffolds than the 0Fe-MCS/PHBHH scaffold (P < 0.05), as well as significantly higher in the 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffold than the 10Fe-MCS/PHBHH scaffold (P < 0.05). (3) At 7 days of culture, no difference in alkaline phosphatase activity could be found among these four groups of scaffolds; however, at 14 days, the 5Fe-MCS/PHBHHx, 10Fe-MCS/PHBHHx and 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffolds exhibited an enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity compared with the 0Fe-MCS/PHBHHx scaffold. Meanwhile, the 15Fe-MCS/PHBHHx showed the highest alkaline phosphatase activity.These findings indicate that the MCS/PHBHH scaffolds containing Fe could promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of the MC3T3-E1 cells.