Nanohydroxyapatite Incorporated Electrospun Polycaprolactone/Polycaprolactone-Polyethyleneglycol-Polycaprolactone Blend Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract

The present work is a comparative evaluation of physical and biological properties of electrospun biodegradable fibrous scaffolds based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and its blend with polycaprolactone-polyethyleneglycol-polycaprolactone (CEC) with and without nanohydroxyapatite (nHAP) particles. The fiber morphology, porosity, surface wettability, and mechanical properties of electrospun PCL were distinctly influenced by the presence of both copolymer CEC and nHAP. The degradation in hydrolytic media affected both morphological and mechanical properties of the scaffolds and the tensile strength decreased by 58% for PCL, 83% for PCL/CEC, 36% for PCL/nHAP and 75% for PCL/CEC/nHAP in 90 days of PBS ageing. MU assay using mouse fibroblast L929 cells proved all the scaffolds to be non-cytotoxic. An overall enhanced performance was shown by PCL/CEC/nHAP scaffold in cell viability (LDH) and proliferation (Picogreen). Simultaneously, ELF assay of ALP activity (bone marker) confirmed the presence of osteogenic-induced Rabbit adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) on all the scaffolds. In comparison, the results reveal the potential of the cytocompatible PCL/CEC/nHAP scaffold for the fabrication of living bony constructs for tissue engineering applications.