Biocompatibility of Developing 3D-Printed Tubular Scaffold Coated with Nanofibers for Bone Applications

Febe Carolina Vazquez-Vazquez,Jesús Arenas Alatorre,David Masuoka,Osmar Alejandro Chanes-Cuevas,Daniel Chavarria-Bolaños,José Roberto Vega-Baudrit,Marco Antonio Alvarez-Perez,Janeth Serrano-Bello

doi:10.1155/2019/6105818

Abstract

3D printing with controlled microarchitectures has gained traction in a wide variety of fields, including bone tissue engineering, because it represents an exciting alternative for the synthesis of new scaffolds due to its rapid manufacturing process, high precision, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use. Thus, this study is aimed at evaluating the biocompatibility response of a 3D-printed tubular scaffold coated by a layer of 7% PLA nanofibers. The morphology, structure, and chemical composition of the 3D-printed tubular scaffold were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and surface property analysis by profilometry. The biocompatibility response of the scaffold was assessed by cell adhesion, proliferation, and cell-material interactions of human fetal osteoblasts. Our results showed that 3D printing allowed obtaining similar and reproducible structures and the biocompatibility assays showed that nanofiber coating of the surface of the 3D tubular scaffold promoted an improvement on cell attachment, proliferation, and the morphology of osteoblast cells when compared with a noncoated scaffold. In conclusion, the surface of the 3D-printed tubular scaffold could be improved by the deposition of a nanofiber layer to render a more mimetic and active topography with excellent cellular biocompatibility for bone tissue applications.

Highlights

Bone defects have a high impact on a patient’s quality of life, leading to a high demand for bone substitutes in the orthopedic and maxillofacial fields
We propose the use of the air jet spinning technique (AJS) as a simple method for surface modification based on a specialized spinning system nozzle, a surface for collecting polymer fibers, and compressed gas; through this method, the polymer solution and pressurized gas are simultaneously ejected to form the fiber morphology [21]
Both 3D tubular scaffolds (Figures 1(a), 1(b), 1(d), and 1(e)) and 3D tubular scaffolds coated with fibers (Figures 2(a), 2(b), 2(d), and 2(e)) analyzed at low magnification showed a similar macrostructure with similar geometry and homogeneous nonporous microtopography with evident wrinkles which exhibit small extruded triangle-shaped gaps

Summary

Introduction

Bone defects have a high impact on a patient’s quality of life, leading to a high demand for bone substitutes in the orthopedic and maxillofacial fields. Current surgical procedures for bone regeneration utilize transplantation (auto- and allografts) that must deal with the repair, renewal, and replacement of the bone tissue defect. These treatments have severe drawbacks such as donor site morbidity, severe pain, unavailability of large tissue volumes, risk of infections, immunogenicity, and the risk of communicable diseases [1,2,3,4]. One of the critical factors to bridge this gap is the possibility of modulating scaffold characteristics so that specific biological, clinical, manufacturing, economic, and regulatory prerequisites can be met [10]

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