Enhanced bioactive glass/collagen composite scaffold promotes osteogenesis

Abstract

Objective To study the in vivo and vitro biocompatibility and osteogenetic capacity of enhanced hioactive glass/collagen composite scaffold. Methods Bone marrow stromal cells （BMSCs） were collected and induced to osteoblast-like cells. The growth rate of BMSCs was detected and compared progressively through Alamar Blue. The RNAs of the cells were collected and detected for bone morphogenetic protein-2 （BMP-2）, alkaline phosphatase （ALP）, collagen I （Col- I） through qRT-PCR on the fourth and seventh days. Scaffolds with induced osteoblasts were embedded into 3 nude mice subcutaneously in vivo and detected after 6 weeks. X-ray, qRT-PCR and tissue staining were used to detect the mRNA expressions of BMP-2, Col I, osteocalcin （OCN） and osteopontin （OPN） and bone formation. Results SEM（scanning electronic microscopy） showed BMSCs attached to the scaffold tightly and viably and proliferated actively on the scaffold. The growth rate in the experimental group was significantly higher after 7 days （ P 〈 O. 05） than in the control group, qRT-PCR showed that the mRNA expressions of BMP-2, ALP and Col- I in the experimental group were significantly higher than in the control group on the seventh day （ P 〈 0.05） . X-ray showed that the dense images of embedded scaffolds were locally similar to those of normal bone after 6 weeks. qRT-PCR showed that the mRNA expressions of BMP-2, Col I, OCN and OPN in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of normal bone （ P 〈 0.05）. HE and Masson staining of the paraffin sections showed the scaffolds degraded generally and osteoblasts and chondrocytes proliferated abundantly and dis- tributed irregularly. Bone formation could be observed obviously. Conclusion Enhanced bioactive glass/collagen composite scaffolds have good biocompatibility and osteogenetic capacity in vitro and vivo. Key words: Biocompatible materials; Collagen; Materials testing; Rats