Effect of oxygen plasma etching on pore size-controlled 3D polycaprolactone scaffolds for enhancing the early new bone formation in rabbit calvaria.

This study was to investigate the effects of O plasma-etching of the 3D polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold surface on preosteoblast cell proliferation and differentiation, and early new bone formation. The PCL scaffolds were fabricated by 3D printing technique. After O plasma treatment, surface characterizations were examined by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and contact angle. MTT assay was used to determine cell proliferation. To investigate the early new bone formation, rabbits were sacrificed at 2 weeks for histological analyses. As the O plasma etching time is increased, roughness and hydrophilicity of the PCL scaffold surface increased. The cell proliferation and differentiation on plasma-etched samples was significantly increased than on untreated samples. At 2 weeks, early new bone formation in O plasma-etched PCL scaffolds was the higher than that of untreated scaffolds. The O plasma-etched PCL scaffolds showed increased preosteoblast differentiation as well as increased new bone formation.