Bioactivity and Bone Cell Formation with Poly-ε-Caprolactone/Bioceramic 3D Porous Scaffolds

This study applied poly-epsilon-caprolactone (PCL), a biomedical ceramic powder as an additive (nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) or beta-tricalcium diphosphate (beta-TCP)), and sodium chloride (NaCl) and ammonium bicarbonate ((NH4)HCO3) as porogens; these stuffs were used as scaffold materials. An improved solvent-casting/particulate-leaching method was utilized to fabricate 3D porous scaffolds. In this study we examined the physical properties (elastic modulus, porosity, and contact angle) and degradation properties (weight loss and pH value) of the 3D porous scaffolds. Both nHA and beta-TCP improved the mechanical properties (elastic modulus) of the 3D porous scaffolds. The elastic modulus (0.15 similar to 1.865 GPa) of the various composite scaffolds matched that of human cancellous bone (0.1 similar to 4.5 GPa). Osteoblast-like (MG63) cells were cultured, a microculture tetrazolium test (MTT) was conducted and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of the 3D porous scaffolds was determined. Experimental results indicated that both nHA and beta-TCP powder improved the hydrophilic properties of the scaffolds. The degradation rate of the scaffolds was accelerated by adding nHA or beta-TCP. The MTT and ALP activity tests indicated that the scaffolds with a high ratio of nHA or beta-TCP had excellent properties of in vitro biocompatibility (cell attachment and proliferation).