3D biodegradable scaffolds of polycaprolactone with silicate-containing hydroxyapatite microparticles for bone tissue engineering: high-resolution tomography and in vitro study

To date, special interest has been paid to composite scaffolds based on polymers enriched with hydroxyapatite (HA). However, the role of HA containing different trace elements such as silicate in the structure of a polymer scaffold has not yet been fully explored. Here, we report the potential use of silicate-containing hydroxyapatite (SiHA) microparticles and microparticle aggregates in the predominant range from 2.23 to 12.40 µm in combination with polycaprolactone (PCL) as a hybrid scaffold with randomly oriented and well-aligned microfibers for regeneration of bone tissue. Chemical and mechanical properties of the developed 3D scaffolds were investigated with XRD, FTIR, EDX and tensile testing. Furthermore, the internal structure and surface morphology of the scaffolds were analyzed using synchrotron X-ray µCT and SEM. Upon culturing human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) on PCL-SiHA scaffolds, we found that both SiHA inclusion and microfiber orientation affected cell adhesion. The best hMSCs viability was revealed at 10 day for the PCL-SiHA scaffolds with well-aligned structure (~82%). It is expected that novel hybrid scaffolds of PCL will improve tissue ingrowth in vivo due to hydrophilic SiHA microparticles in combination with randomly oriented and well-aligned PCL microfibers, which mimic the structure of extracellular matrix of bone tissue.