Fabrication and characterization of chitosan-titanium oxide nanotubes scaffolds reinforced with tiger milk mushroom

Abstract

Chitosan-based scaffolds have been reported to promote cellular activities but lack mechanical strength which is much sought after for bone regeneration. The current research work aided to reinforce chitosan-based scaffolds with tiger milk mushroom (TMM) powder, a naturally occurring polysaccharide. Scaffolds of chitosan-titanium oxide nanotubes (TNTs) reinforced with tiger milk mushroom (TMM-CTNTs) were fabricated via direct-blending and freeze-drying methods. Prior to that, TNTs were hydrothermally synthesized and blended with chitosan solution and TMM powder at 1-5 weight percent (wt %). The pore size, microstructure, porosity, swelling, degradation, compressive modulus and functional groups of resultant scaffolds were characterized. These cylindrical scaffolds of TMM-CTNTs showed pore size of 48 – 68 μm. The addition of TMM from 3 wt% to 5 wt% in scaffolds reduced the porosity from 81.7 % to 79.9 %. The compressive modulus of 3 wt%-5 wt% TMM-CTNTs scaffolds increased %from 0.013 MPa – 0.038 MPa. The incorporation of TMM influenced the swelling property of scaffolds. The swelling percentage of TMM-CTNTs reduced from 400% to 373% as TMM powder was introduced from 1 wt% to 5 wt%. The degradation ratio increased from 0.959% to 2.385 % as TMM powder was introduced from 1 wt% to 5 wt%. The Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra of TMM-CTNTs scaffolds revealed the presence of β-glucan which verified that the processing methods in this study preserved the medicinal property of TMM. A preliminary in vitro test, MTT assay, was used to study proliferation rate of MG63 (osteoblast-like cells) cultured on TMM-CTNTs scaffolds with different weight percent of TMM. Notably, the cells proliferation of MG63 showed high biocompatibility at 3 days of culture.