A Novel Biomimetic Nanofibrous Scaffold for Periodontal Tissue Regeneration

Objectives: To synthesize and characterize a novel biomimetic nanofibrous membrane for Periodontal regeneration based on PCL scaffold.
Methods: The nanofibrous membrane with tunable physical properties was synthesized based on FDA-approved Polycaprolactone (PCL) using electrospinning. The fabricated membranes with different surface micropatterns were then coated with a polyphenol to facilitate cell attachment as well as in-situ mineralization. Mechanical properties and depredation profile of the engineered membranes were analyzed.The potential use of the membrane for local presentation of cytokine/ growth factors also evaluated. Moreover, the osteogenic properties of the developed membranes were examined using human periodontal ligament stem cells (h-PDLSCs).
Results: Our data demonstrate that the fabricated membranes have tunable degradation profile (10-60 days) and mechanical properties (e.g. tensile strength: 1-6 MPa). Sustained release of SDF-1a cytokine was confirmed from the PCL-based electrospun membranes. Moreover, SDF-1a release enabled the recruitment of local progenitor stem cells.Polyphenol coating (50 nm thickness) provided cell adhesion sites for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and accelerated cellular adhesion and subsequent osteodifferentiation. Positive osteogenic differentiation of seeded PDLSCs on the surface of the fabricated membranes were confirmed through quantitative real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry, and xylenol orange staining.
Conclusions: Our engineered periodontal membrane exhibited favorable mechanical strength and biodegradation profile. Moreover, the membrane can support in situ mineralization as a promising membrane for periodontal tissue regeneration.