Our goal was to characterize the response of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) to a novel composite scaffold for bone tissue engineering. The hydroxyapatite-polycaprolactone (HA-PCL) composite scaffolds were prepared by a sol-gel method at room temperature and the scaffold morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to validate the synthesis process. The response of two different lines of hMSCs, bone-marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in terms of cell proliferation and differentiation into the osteoblastic phenotype, was evaluated using Alamar blue assay, SEM, histology and alkaline phosphatase activity. Our results indicate that tissue engineering by means of composite HA-PCL scaffolds may represent a new therapeutic strategy to repair craniofacial bone defects.
Keywords: bone defects; composite material; dental pulp stem cells; human mesenchymal stem cells; hydroxyapatite; polymer; scaffold.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.