Scrophularia striata extract incorporated nanofibrous scaffold improved osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

One of the dynamic challenges of bone tissue engineering has been designing biocompatible and bioactive scaffolds that are highly similar to bone tissue. Composite scaffolds are a combination of polymers and natural materials, and have a high chance of being used in tissue engineering. The use of plant compounds with anti-bacterial, healing and restorative properties is one of these options. In this study, a composite nanofibrous scaffold was fabricated by Polycaprolactone (PCL) and Scrophularia striata (S.S) extract using electrospinning method. After morphological examination of the constructed scaffolds by SEM, the osteogenic differentiation potential of the Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) was evaluated while cultured on the scaffolds. Biocompatibility and non-toxicity of the fabricated scaffolds were confirmed by protein adsorption, MTT and SEM assays. Evaluation of the Alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium production showed that the amount of these two factors in the ASCs cultured on the fabricated scaffold containing the extract (PCL-S.S) increased significantly compared to the cells cultured on the empty scaffolds (PCL). Furthermore, the results obtained by gene and protein expression assays indicated that the expression level of Runx-2, Col-I, osteonectin and osteo-calcin genes, and osteocalcin protein increased significantly in the cultured ASCs on the PCL-S.S nanofibers compared to the ASCs cultured on the PCL nanofibers. Taken together, it can be concluded that the osteoinductive property of the PCL scaffolds improved significantly after combining with the S.S extract (PCL-S.S), and this composited-scaffold can be suggested as a promising candidate for use in bone tissue engineering.