A Review on the Effect of Zein in Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Natural pharmaceutical ingredients have been widely used in recent decades due to their safety and biocompatibility. Zein, a plant-derived natural protein, has several advantages over other synthetic polymers in bone tissue engineering (BTE). This study of zein protein focuses more on its application in BTE as potential biopolymer material used in scaffold development. The use of zein in BTE has shown its benefits in the production of scaffolds. Therefore, attention has been given to studies of the effect of zein usage in bone scaffold development, as it offers a great ability based on its porosity, mechanical strength, in vitro degradation study, cell proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation, which is important for healing bone tissue damage. Therefore, this review aims to critically analyze the current research on the method of scaffold fabrication and the effect of zein usage in scaffolds for BTE. In addition, the common methods used in creating the scaffold are addressed.