Biologically modified electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibrous scaffold promotes osteogenic differentiation

Abstract

Tissue engineering has tried for decades to introduce scaffolds to replace the body's natural ECM, to replace damaged tissues that cannot be repaired or treated by conventional methods. In the present study, an attempt has been made to use human placental extract (PE) as a natural material to modify and simulate an electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold to the natural ECM. PCL and PCL-PE nanofibers were characterized morphologically, and their non-toxicity was also investigated. After that, their osteo-supportive capacities were also investigated by culture of the Wharton's jelly (WJ) derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on the scaffolds. SEM results demonstrated that PCL and PCL-PE scaffolds were fibrous with nanometer size, bead free and smooth, and these characteristics were not changed significantly while PCL nanofibers coated with PE. In addition, SEM results were also confirmed these scaffold's non-toxicity when WJ-MSCs properly attached, proliferated and expanded on the surface of scaffolds. Osteo-supportive capacity of the PCL and PCL-PE scaffolds was investigated via ALP activity, calcium content and bone-related gene expression in the WJ-MSCs when grown on the PCL and PCL-PE scaffolds and TCPS and TCPS-PE as controls. The results demonstrated that all bone related markers were significantly increased at the presence of the PE. In addition, this increase was significantly enhanced when PE combined with PCL nanofiber structure. According to the results, PCL-PE nanofibrous scaffold showed that it has a very high ability to support bone differentiation and can be introduced as a suitable candidate for use in bone tissue engineering.