Tissue Engineering and Biomicrofluidics Laboratory, School of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
School of Engineering Science and Technology (SEST), University of Hyderabad (UoH), Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
J Biomater Sci Polym Ed. 2022 Dec;33(17):2220-2248. doi: 10.1080/09205063.2022.2101415. Epub 2022 Jul 22.
Bone tissue engineering is an emerging technology that has been developed in recent years to address bone abnormalities by repairing, regenerating and replacing damaged/injured tissues. In present work, we report the fabrication and characterization of porous luffa-based composite scaffolds composed of (sponge gourd) powder (LC)/hydroxyapatite (HA), psyllium husk (PH) and gelatin (G) in various combinations (w/v) i.e. 3% LC, 5% LC and control (C) (without luffa powder) by using freeze-drying method. The structural stability of the scaffolds was obtained after chemically crosslinking them with glutaraldehyde (GTA), which was identified scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The hydrophilic behavior of the samples was quantified by water contact angle measurements. The average pore size of the scaffolds was observed in a range of 20-240 µm. As per the obtained data, the apparent and effective porosities were estimated as ∼57.08 ± 4.38%, ∼50.58 ± 4.09%, ∼59.45 ± 1.60% and 51.37 ± 3.36%, 47.94 ± 4.57% and 53.09 ± 5.45% for 3% LC, 5% LC and control (C) scaffolds, respectively. The scaffolds were found to be noticeably stable for 50 days at 37 °C in a lysozyme solution. The liquid retention capacity of the scaffolds revealed that the luffa-based scaffolds gained lower retention capacity compared to the control (C) scaffold; indicating an increase in scaffold stiffness due to the addition of luffa. Compressive strength study demonstrated that the mechanical stability of the fabricated luffa-based scaffolds got increased significantly from ∼1.5 to ∼9.5 MPa, which is comparable to that of trabecular bone. In addition, proliferation and viability analysis of MG-63 osteoblast-like cells revealed a significant level of cellular compatibility i.e. approaching ∼64% proliferation by 6th day compared to control. Thus, the obtained results demonstrate that the fabricated novel luffa-based scaffolds exhibit good cytocompatibility, remarkable porosity and excellent mechanical strength comparable to native human bone. Therefore, we anticipate that the developed luffa-based scaffolds could be a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering applications.
骨组织工程是近年来发展起来的一项新兴技术，旨在通过修复、再生和替换受损/受伤组织来解决骨异常问题。在本工作中，我们报告了由丝瓜（LC）/羟基磷灰石（HA）、车前子壳（PH）和明胶（G）组成的多孔丝瓜基复合支架的制备和表征，其比例为（w/v），即 3% LC、5% LC 和对照（C）（无丝瓜粉），通过冷冻干燥法。通过用戊二醛（GTA）对支架进行化学交联，获得了支架的结构稳定性，通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱和差示扫描量热法（DSC）进行了鉴定。通过水接触角测量来量化样品的亲水性。支架的平均孔径在 20-240 μm 范围内。根据获得的数据，表观和有效孔隙率分别估计为∼57.08±4.38%、∼50.58±4.09%、∼59.45±1.60%和 51.37±3.36%、47.94±4.57%和 53.09±5.45%，3% LC、5% LC 和对照（C）支架。结果表明，在 37°C 的溶菌酶溶液中，支架在 50 天内表现出明显的稳定性。支架的液体保持能力表明，与对照（C）支架相比，丝瓜基支架的保留能力较低；表明由于丝瓜的添加，支架的刚性增加。压缩强度研究表明，所制备的丝瓜基支架的机械稳定性显著提高，从∼1.5 增加到∼9.5 MPa，与小梁骨相当。此外，MG-63 成骨样细胞的增殖和活力分析显示，细胞相容性显著提高，与对照相比，第 6 天的增殖率接近∼64%。因此，研究结果表明，所制备的新型丝瓜基支架具有良好的细胞相容性、显著的孔隙率和优异的机械强度，与天然人骨相当。因此，我们预计开发的丝瓜基支架可能是骨组织工程应用的有前途的候选材料。
