Development of ۳D Printed Polycaprolactone Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Background and aim: Bone tissue engineering is an emerging technique for the regeneration of bone tissue damaged due to trauma, osteoporosis-related fractures, bone reconstruction. In recent decades, ۳D printing technology is widely used in bone tissue engineering due to the ability to produce porous scaffolds with specific shapes, and interconnected porosity. In this study, polycaprolactone scaffolds were fabricated through ۳D printing and modified with alkaline hydrolysis.Materials and method: Polycaprolactone was printed in pore size ۷۰۰ μm and orientations of ۰°/۹۰° at ۸۰ ° C. Afterward, the ۳D printed scaffolds were modified with NaOH in ۱ and ۵ M concentrations for ۶ hours and following rinsed in deionized water. The morphology and roughness of scaffolds were evaluated with a scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscopy. In addition, the pore size distribution and scaffold strands were measured by Image J. Cell viability and cell attachment of ۳D printed scaffolds were assessed by pre-osteoblast MC۳T۳-E۱ cell line.Results: The FDA-approved polycaprolactone is a hydrophobic polymer with poor cell affinity, so NaOH modification improves the roughness, and biological properties of the scaffolds. In presence of NaOH modification, the uniformity of structure was preserved for PCL scaffolds. The results showed that the modified scaffolds had a rougher surface compared to unmodified scaffolds. In addition, the in vitro results showed that the cell viability decreased with the increase of the NaOH concentration. At a concentration of ۵M, the NaOH leads to reduced cell viability by approximately ۳۰%. Cell growth revealed that modified polycaprolactone scaffolds in ۱M concentrations led to better cell attachment.Conclusion: Based on results, ۳D printed polycaprolactone scaffolds modified with NaOH in ۱M concentration were the optimal choice for bone tissue engineering.

کلیدواژه ها:

۳D printing ، Polycaprolactone ، Alkaline hydrolysis ، Bone tissue engineering