Abstract
Tissue engineering is widely recognized as a promising approach for bone repair and reconstruction. Several attempts have been made to achieve materials that must be compatible, osteoconductive, and osteointegrative and have mechanical strength to provide a structural support. Composite scaffolds consisting in biodegradable natural polymers are very promising constructs. Hydroxyapatite (HAp) can support alginate as inorganic reinforcement and osteoconductive component of alginate/HAp composite scaffolds. Therefore, HAp-strengthened polymer biocomposites offer a solid system to engineer synthetic bone substitutes. In the present work, HAp was incorporated into an alginate solution and internal gelling was induced by addition of slowly acid-hydrolyzing D-gluconic acid delta-lactone for the direct release of calcium ions from HAp. It has been previously demonstrated that alginate-based composites efficiently support adhesion of cancer bone cell lines. Human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) identified in human dental pulp are clonogenic cells capable of differentiating in multiple lineage. Thus, this study is aimed at verifying the mineralization and differentiation potential of human DPSCs seeded onto scaffolds based on alginate and nano-hydroxyapatite. For this purpose, gene expression profile of early and late mineralization-related markers, extracellular matrix components, viability parameters, and oxidative stress occurrence were evaluated and analyzed. In summary, our data show that DPSCs express osteogenic differentiation-related markers and promote calcium deposition and biomineralization when growing onto Alg/HAp scaffolds. These findings confirm the use of Alg/HAp scaffolds as feasible composite materials in tissue engineering, being capable of promoting a specific and successful tissue regeneration as well as mineralized matrix deposition and sustaining natural bone regeneration.
Highlights
Tissue engineering is widely recognized as one of the most promising approaches for bone repair and reconstruction in orthopaedics [1]
Formation of Mineralized Nodules in dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) Exposed to Differentiation Medium
The production of the extracellular mineralized matrix by DPSCs was evaluated through Alizarin Red S staining
Summary
Tissue engineering is widely recognized as one of the most promising approaches for bone repair and reconstruction in orthopaedics [1]. Bone is a complex and hierarchical tissue with nano-hydroxyapatite and collagen representing the major portions [2]. Several attempts have been made in order to achieve feasible materials with osteoconductive and osteointegrative properties to provide a structural support [3]. The major role of bone is to provide a morphological framework, mechanical strength, blood pH regulation, and maintenance of calcium and phosphate levels to assist metabolic processes [2]. As far as dental restoration is concerned, regenerative endodontics is a promising field of tissue engineering that is aimed at achieving results using stem cells associated with responsive molecules and scaffolds
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