Queensland Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Australia; School of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The UQ Centre in Stem Cell Ageing and Regenerative Engineering (StemCARE), Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Australia.
Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2019 Feb 1;95:160-165. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2018.10.033. Epub 2018 Oct 6.
There is increasing demand for synthetic bone scaffolds for bone tissue engineering as they can counter issues such as potential harvesting morbidity and restrictions in donor sites which hamper autologous bone grafts and address the potential for disease transmission in the case of allografts. Due to their excellent biocompatibility, titanium scaffolds have great potential as bone graft substitutes as they mimic the structure and properties of human cancellous bone. Here we report on a new thermoset bio-polymer which can act as a binder for Direct Ink Writing (DIW) of titanium artificial bone scaffolds. We demonstrate the use of the binder to manufacture porous titanium scaffolds with evenly distributed and highly interconnected porosity ideal for orthopaedic applications. Due to their porous structure, the scaffolds exhibit an effective Young's modulus similar to human cortical bone, alleviating undesirable stress-shielding effects, and possess superior strength. The biocompatibility of the scaffolds was investigated in vitro by cell viability and proliferation assays using human bone-marrow-derived Mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The hMSCs displayed well-spread morphologies, well-organized F-actin and large vinculin complexes confirming their excellent biocompatibility. The vinculin regions had significantly larger Focal Adhesion (FA) area and equivalent FA numbers compared to that of tissue culture plate controls, showing that the scaffolds support cell viability and promote attachment. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the excellent potential of the thermoset bio-polymer as a Direct Ink Writing ready binder for manufacture of porous titanium scaffolds for hard tissue engineering.
由于合成骨支架能够解决自体骨移植物的潜在采集发病率和供体部位限制等问题，并解决同种异体移植物潜在的疾病传播问题，因此人们对其在骨组织工程中的应用需求日益增加。由于其出色的生物相容性，钛支架作为骨移植物替代品具有巨大的潜力，因为它们模拟了人类松质骨的结构和特性。在这里，我们报告了一种新的热固性生物聚合物，它可以作为直接喷墨（DIW）打印钛人工骨支架的粘合剂。我们展示了使用该粘合剂制造具有均匀分布和高度互连孔隙率的多孔钛支架的方法，这种支架非常适合骨科应用。由于其多孔结构，支架表现出与人类皮质骨相似的有效杨氏模量，减轻了不理想的应力屏蔽效应，并具有优异的强度。通过使用人骨髓间充质干细胞（hMSCs）进行体外细胞活力和增殖实验来研究支架的生物相容性。hMSCs 呈现出良好的伸展形态，F-肌动蛋白排列整齐，大的 vinculin 复合物证实了其出色的生物相容性。与组织培养板对照相比，vinculin 区域的焦点粘附（FA）面积明显更大，FA 数量相等，表明支架支持细胞活力并促进细胞附着。总之，我们已经证明了热固性生物聚合物作为 DIW 就绪粘合剂用于制造用于硬组织工程的多孔钛支架的优异潜力。
