3D-Printed PCL Scaffolds Coated with Nanobioceramics Enhance Osteogenic Differentiation of Stem Cells

Nasrin Fazeli; Ehsan Arefian; Shiva Irani; Abdolreza Ardeshirylajimi; Ehsan Seyedjafari

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c04015

3D-Printed PCL Scaffolds Coated with Nanobioceramics Enhance Osteogenic Differentiation of Stem Cells

ACS Omega. 2021 Dec 14;6(51):35284-35296. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c04015. eCollection 2021 Dec 28.

Authors

Nasrin Fazeli¹, Ehsan Arefian², Shiva Irani¹, Abdolreza Ardeshirylajimi³, Ehsan Seyedjafari⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 14778 93855, Iran.
² Department of Microbiology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 14179 35840, Iran.
³ Urogenital Stem Cell Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 19839 63113, Iran.
⁴ Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 14179 35840, Iran.

Abstract

With advances in bone tissue engineering, various materials and methods have been explored to find a better scaffold that can help in improving bone growth and regeneration. Three-dimensional (3D) printing by fused deposition modeling can produce customized scaffolds from biodegradable polyesters such as polycaprolactone (PCL). Although the fabricated PCL scaffolds exhibited a lack of bioactivity and poor cell attachment on their surfaces, herein, using a simple postfabrication modification method with hydroxyapatite (HA) and bioglasses (BGs), we obtained better cell proliferation and attachment. Biological behavior and osteosupportive capacity of the 3D-printed scaffolds including PCL, PCL/HA, PCL/BG, and PCL/HA/BG were evaluated in this study, while human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) were cultured on the scaffolds. The cell morphology, attachment, and proliferation were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining. In the next step, the ability of stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts was evaluated by measuring alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, calcium deposition, and bone-related gene and protein expression. In the end, the expression levels of miR-20a, miR-125a, and their target genes were also investigated as positive and negative regulators in osteogenesis pathways. The results showed that the coated scaffolds with bioceramics present a more appropriate surface for cell adhesion and proliferation, as well as efficient potential in inducing osteoconduction and osteointegration compared to PCL alone and control. The PCL/HA/BG scaffold exhibited higher in vitro cell viability and bone formation compared to the other groups, which can be due to the synergistic effect of HA and BG. On the whole, this tricomponent 3D-printing scaffold has a promising prospect for bone tissue engineering applications.