Surface coating of hydroxyapatite on silk nanofiber through biomineralization using ten times concentrated simulated body fluid and the evaluation for bone regeneration

Abstract

The biomineralization of hydroxyapatite (HA) on silk nanofiber surface was explored to create organic/inorganic composite scaffold for bone tissue engineering. The porous silk nanofibers matrix was prepared by electrospinning using methanol coagulation bath as a collector and the deposition and coating of HA crystals were proceeded through biomineralization process by immersing the nanofibers in ten times concentrated simulated body fluid (10X SBF). It was found that uniform surface coating of silk nanofibers with HA crystals can be easily obtained by using 10X SBF within short immersion time (60–90 min in this study). The morphological structure of the Silk/HA composite nanofiber was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images and structural evidence of HA deposition onto the silk nanofibers were also performed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assay confirmed that the cell adhesion and proliferation of osteoblast cells on this composite scaffold was excellent and micro computed tomography (micro-CT) image also showed that better ability of bone regeneration occurred for the Silk/HA composite nanofiber scaffold after 8 weeks implantation. As a result of biological evaluation, the HA coated silk nanofiber scaffold can have a high potential for using in bone tissue regeneration. Open image in new window