Highly porous chitosan/hydroxyapatite composite structures with different weight ratios (100/0; 90/10; 80/20; 70/30; 60/40; 50/50; 40/60) have been prepared by precipitation method and freeze-gelation technique using calcite, urea phosphate and chitosan as starting materials. The composition of prepared composite scaffolds was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, while morphology of scaffolds was imaged by scanning electron microscopy. Mercury intrusion porosimetry measurements of prepared scaffolds have shown different porosity and microstructure regarding to the HA content, along with SEM observations of scaffolds after being immersed in physiological medium. The results of swelling capacity and compressive strength measured in Dulbecco's phosphate buffer saline (DPBS) have shown higher values for composite scaffolds with lower in situ HA content. Viability, proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells seeded on different scaffolds have been evaluated by live dead assay and confocal scan microscopy. Our results suggest that the increase of HA content enhance osteoblast differentiation confirming osteogenic properties of highly porous CS/HA scaffolds for tissue engineering applications in bone repair.
Keywords: Chitosan; Hydroxyapatite; MC3T3-E1 differentiation; Osteogenic markers; Porosity; Scaffold; Unconfined compression.