Enhancing mechanical property, osteogenesis and angiogenesis of 3D-plotted β-tricalcium phosphate bioceramic scaffolds incorporated with magnesium silicate: In Vitro and In Vivo study

Abstract

The balance between porosity and compressive strength, as well as the pro-osteogenic and pro-angiogenesis effects of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) are not satisfactory in the clinical application even though it has good biocompatibility, osseointegration and osteoconductivity. Herein, different contents (10, 20 and 30 wt%) of magnesium silicate (Mg2SiO4, MS) and β-TCP composite bioceramic scaffolds (MS/β-TCP) were fabricated by three-dimensional fiber deposition (3DF) technology. The physicochemical, in vitro osteogenic and angiogenic properties, the early (6 weeks) cranium defect repair effects in rats and the underlying molecular mechanism on accelerating osteogenic differentiation of MS/β-TCP were systematically investigated. The results showed that MS compounding not only promoted the sintering of β-TCP and significantly enhanced the compressive strength, but also greatly improved its osteogenic and angiogenic performances, such as the viability, adhesion, and proliferation of mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (mBMSCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), ALP activity and the expression of adhesion-related, osteogenesis-related and angiogenesis-related genes. The in vivo experiments presented that 10MS/β-TCP had more new bone formation and better angiogenesis compared to β-TCP and Blank. Analysis of the transcriptome sequencing results confirmed that the Wnt signaling pathway was involved in the regulation of osteogenic differentiation in mBMSCs by the MS/β-TCP composite bioceramic scaffold. The MS/β-TCP holds great potential in bone repair and regeneration.