Touré Adja B R, Mele Elisa, Christie Jamieson K
Department of Materials, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK.
Centre for Additive Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham University, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2020 Mar 28;10(4):626. doi: 10.3390/nano10040626.
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been combined with electrospinning to manufacture multi-layered polymer/glass scaffolds that possess multi-scale porosity, are mechanically robust, release bioactive compounds, degrade at a controlled rate and are biocompatible. Fibrous mats of poly (caprolactone) (PCL) and poly (glycerol sebacate) (PGS) have been directly electrospun on one side of 3D-printed grids of PCL-PGS blends containing bioactive glasses (BGs). The excellent adhesion between layers has resulted in composite scaffolds with a Young's modulus of 240-310 MPa, higher than that of 3D-printed grids (125-280 MPa, without the electrospun layer). The scaffolds degraded in vitro by releasing PGS and BGs, reaching a weight loss of ~14% after 56 days of incubation. Although the hydrolysis of PGS resulted in the acidification of the buffer medium (to a pH of 5.3-5.4), the release of alkaline ions from the BGs balanced that out and brought the pH back to 6.0. Cytotoxicity tests performed on fibroblasts showed that the PCL-PGS-BGs constructs were biocompatible, with cell viability of above 125% at day 2. This study demonstrates the fabrication of systems with engineered properties by the synergy of diverse technologies and materials (organic and inorganic) for potential applications in tendon and ligament tissue engineering.
三维（3D）打印已与静电纺丝相结合，以制造具有多尺度孔隙率、机械强度高、能释放生物活性化合物、以可控速率降解且具有生物相容性的多层聚合物/玻璃支架。聚己内酯（PCL）和聚癸二酸甘油酯（PGS）的纤维垫已直接静电纺丝在含有生物活性玻璃（BGs）的PCL - PGS共混物的3D打印网格的一侧。层间的优异粘附性导致复合支架的杨氏模量为240 - 310 MPa，高于3D打印网格（125 - 280 MPa，无静电纺丝层）。支架在体外通过释放PGS和BGs而降解，孵育56天后失重约14%。尽管PGS的水解导致缓冲介质酸化（至pH 5.3 - 5.4），但BGs中碱性离子的释放平衡了这一情况，使pH值恢复到6.0。对成纤维细胞进行的细胞毒性测试表明，PCL - PGS - BGs构建体具有生物相容性，在第2天细胞活力高于125%。本研究展示了通过多种技术和材料（有机和无机）的协同作用制造具有工程特性的系统，用于肌腱和韧带组织工程的潜在应用。
