BIOLab Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, UdR INSTM Pisa, Via Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Fabrica Machinale, Via Giuntini 13, Cascina, 56021 Pisa, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Mar 31;23(7):3895. doi: 10.3390/ijms23073895.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates are biopolyesters whose biocompatibility, biodegradability, environmental sustainability, processing versatility, and mechanical properties make them unique scaffolding polymer candidates for tissue engineering. The development of innovative biomaterials suitable for advanced Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers new opportunities for the fabrication of customizable tissue engineering scaffolds. In particular, the blending of polymers represents a useful strategy to develop AM scaffolding materials tailored to bone tissue engineering. In this study, scaffolds from polymeric blends consisting of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate--3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and poly(D,L-lactide--glycolide) (PLGA) were fabricated employing a solution-extrusion AM technique, referred to as Computer-Aided Wet-Spinning (CAWS). The scaffold fibers were constituted by a biphasic system composed of a continuous PHBV matrix and a dispersed PLGA phase which established a microfibrillar morphology. The influence of the blend composition on the scaffold morphological, physicochemical, and biological properties was demonstrated by means of different characterization techniques. In particular, increasing the content of PLGA in the starting solution resulted in an increase in the pore size, the wettability, and the thermal stability of the scaffolds. Overall, in vitro biological experiments indicated the suitability of the scaffolds to support murine preosteoblast cell colonization and differentiation towards an osteoblastic phenotype, highlighting higher proliferation for scaffolds richer in PLGA.
聚羟基烷酸酯是一种生物聚酯，其生物相容性、生物降解性、环境可持续性、加工多样性和机械性能使其成为组织工程中独特的支架聚合物候选材料。适合先进增材制造 (AM) 的创新生物材料的开发为可定制的组织工程支架的制造提供了新的机会。特别是，聚合物的共混代表了开发适合骨组织工程的 AM 支架材料的有用策略。在这项研究中，使用一种称为计算机辅助湿法纺丝 (CAWS) 的溶液挤出 AM 技术制造了由聚(3-羟基丁酸酯-3-羟基戊酸酯) (PHBV) 和聚(D,L-乳酸-乙醇酸) (PLGA) 组成的聚合物共混物的支架。支架纤维由两相系统组成，包括连续的 PHBV 基质和分散的 PLGA 相，形成微纤维形态。通过不同的表征技术证明了共混物组成对支架形态、物理化学和生物性能的影响。特别是，在起始溶液中增加 PLGA 的含量会导致支架的孔径、润湿性和热稳定性增加。总的来说，体外生物学实验表明支架适合支持鼠前成骨细胞的定植和向成骨细胞表型的分化，PLGA 含量较高的支架表现出更高的增殖能力。
