In Vitro Evaluation of Poly ε-Caprolactone/Hydroxyapatite Composite as Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering with Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells

Abstract

This study evaluated the potential of the PCL (poly -caprolactone)/HA(Hydroxyapatite) composite materials as a scaffold for bone regeneration. For this, we fabricated scaffolds utilizing salt leaching method. The PCL/HA composite scaffolds were prepared with various HA contents (20wt%, 40wt%, 60 wt %). To ensure the potential for the scaffolds, porosity tests were conducted along with SEM observations. The porosity decreased with the increase of the contents of HA particles. The porosity of the composite with the highest contents of HA was still adoptable (~85%). In addition, the PCL/HA composite scaffolds were evaluated for their ability of osteogenic differentiation with human bone marrow stromal cell (hBMSC) in vitro. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, markers for osteoblastic differentiation, and total protein contents were evaluated in hBMSCs following 14 days of cultivation. The addition of HA particles enhanced proliferation of hBMSC during the test. Also, the differentiation ability of the cells was increased as HA particles were added. In this study, we concluded that PCL/HA composite scaffolds has great potential as a scaffold for bone tissue engineering.