Faculty of Medical Bioengineering, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Iasi, Str. Kogălniceanu 9-13, 700454 Iasi, Romania; TRANSCEND Research Centre, Regional Institute of Oncology, Str. G-ral Henri Mathias Berthelot 2-4, 700483 Iași, Romania.
Research Group of Interacting Surfaces in Bioengineering and Materials Science (InSup), Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2020 May;110:110658. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2020.110658. Epub 2020 Jan 11.
Titanium alloy scaffolds with novel interconnected and non-periodic porous bone-like micro architecture were 3D-printed and filled with hydroxyapatite bioactive matrix. These novel metallic-ceramic hybrid scaffolds were tested in vitro by direct-contact osteoblast cell cultures for cell adhesion, proliferation, morphology and gene expression of several key osteogenic markers. The scaffolds were also evaluated in vivo by implanting them on transverse and spinous processes of sheep's vertebras and subsequent histology study. The in vitro results showed that: (a) cell adhesion, proliferation and viability were not negatively affected with time by compositional factors (quantitative MTT-assay); (b) the osteoblastic cells were able to adhere and to attain normal morphology (fluorescence microscopy); (c) the studied samples had the ability to promote and sustain the osteogenic differentiation, matrix maturation and mineralization in vitro (real-time quantitative PCR and mineralized matrix production staining). Additionally, the in vivo results showed that the hybrid scaffolds had greater infiltration, with fully mineralized bone after 6 months, than the titanium scaffolds without bioactive matrix. In conclusion, these novel hybrid scaffolds could be an alternative to the actual spinal fusion devices, due to their proved osteogenic performance (i.e. osteoinductive and osteoconductive behaviour), if further dimensional and biomechanical optimization is performed.
具有新颖的互联和非周期性多孔骨样微观结构的钛合金支架采用 3D 打印技术制成，并填充了羟基磷灰石生物活性基质。这些新型金属-陶瓷混合支架通过直接接触成骨细胞培养进行了体外测试，以研究细胞黏附、增殖、形态和几个关键成骨标志物的基因表达。这些支架还通过将其植入绵羊脊柱的横突和棘突中，并进行随后的组织学研究进行了体内评估。体外结果表明：(a) 细胞黏附、增殖和活力不受组成因素的时间影响（定量 MTT 测定）；(b) 成骨细胞能够黏附和获得正常形态（荧光显微镜）；(c) 研究样品具有促进和维持体外成骨分化、基质成熟和矿化的能力（实时定量 PCR 和矿化基质产生染色）。此外，体内结果表明，与没有生物活性基质的钛支架相比，混合支架具有更大的渗透性，6 个月后完全矿化的骨骼。总之，如果进一步进行尺寸和生物力学优化，这些新型混合支架由于其表现出的成骨性能（即骨诱导和骨传导行为），可以替代实际的脊柱融合装置。
