In Vitro Cell Adhesion, Proliferation and Differentiation of Adipose Derived Stem Cells on Tulbaghia violacea Loaded Polycaprolactone (PCL) Nanofibers

Abstract

Tissue engineering has been used for decades to restructure, replace and repair damaged tissue in the body. However, there are a number of challenges that have been identified, with the biggest one currently being the development of scaffolds with the ideal properties that can promote cell-scaffold interactions to enhance cell proliferation and differentiation. There is currently very little research on the incorporation of extracts of medicinal plants in scaffold fabrication with the aim of enhancing the surface properties of the scaffold. For this study, Tulbaghia violacea-based PCL scaffolds were fabricated and evaluated for their osteogenic potential on adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) in osteogenic media. The short-term studies illustrated enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation with low levels of toxicity as well as the formation of elongated cells in the T. violacea-based scaffolds when compared to the control PCL scaffold. The long term studies indicated increased alkaline phosphate activity (ALP) in the T. violacea scaffolds when compared to PCL and overall higher levels of osteocalcin production over a period of 3 weeks. Immunofluorescence imaging of marker proteins also illustrated that the T. violacea incorporated scaffolds supported better osteocalcin production which is a specific extracellular matrix (ECM) marker for cartilaginous tissue. These results support the incorporation of T. violacea plant extracts for the enhancement of nanofiber scaffolds with the potential for tissue engineering applications.