IADR Abstract Archives
Vascularity of Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Modified by Angiogenic Bioceramics
Objectives: Critical-sized bone defects suffer from limited vascularity to be regenerated, challenging the effectiveness of tissue engineered constructs. Accordingly, new generation of bone scaffolds should offer vascularization stimulation, apart from mechanical support, bioactivity, and biocompatibility. From the angiogenic character of silicon, magnesium, and copper, this work originally hypothesizes that the incorporation of a copper-doped magnesium-calcium silicate into gelatin can effectively improve vascularization in gelatin scaffolds.
Methods: Cu-doped Mg-Ca silicate powder (1 mol% Cu) was synthesized by a sol-gel method followed by calcination at 1150°C. Gelatin was dissolved in distilled water at 10 % (w/v) and then incorporated with 10, 20, and 30 wt% of the synthesized ceramic under mechanical mixing for 2 hours. The prepared gels were frozen at -20°C and freeze-dried to make porous composite foams. The porosity and pore size of the foams were analyzed by the Archimedes’ method and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cytocompatibility was evaluated through the MTT assay at cell culture times of 1, 2, and 3 days; also, vascularization was assessed via the tube formation assay for the duration of 17 hours.
Results: All of the samples indicated porosity levels above 90% with oriented microtubular pores of 50-100 microns in width and 100-500 microns in length, which all are promising for bone tissue regeneration. While the cell biocompatibility of gelatin was not significantly changed by adding the silicate incorporations, the tube formation assay demonstrated a meaningful enhancement in in vitro vascularity by increasing the silicate particles due to the angiogenic actions of the constituting ions of the used bioceramic.
Conclusions: The incorporation of Cu-doped Mg-Ca silicates into polymer-matrix scaffolds at optimal levels simultaneously improves biocompatibility and angiogenesis induction, serving as a suitable candidate for critical-sized bone tissue engineering.
Methods: Cu-doped Mg-Ca silicate powder (1 mol% Cu) was synthesized by a sol-gel method followed by calcination at 1150°C. Gelatin was dissolved in distilled water at 10 % (w/v) and then incorporated with 10, 20, and 30 wt% of the synthesized ceramic under mechanical mixing for 2 hours. The prepared gels were frozen at -20°C and freeze-dried to make porous composite foams. The porosity and pore size of the foams were analyzed by the Archimedes’ method and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cytocompatibility was evaluated through the MTT assay at cell culture times of 1, 2, and 3 days; also, vascularization was assessed via the tube formation assay for the duration of 17 hours.
Results: All of the samples indicated porosity levels above 90% with oriented microtubular pores of 50-100 microns in width and 100-500 microns in length, which all are promising for bone tissue regeneration. While the cell biocompatibility of gelatin was not significantly changed by adding the silicate incorporations, the tube formation assay demonstrated a meaningful enhancement in in vitro vascularity by increasing the silicate particles due to the angiogenic actions of the constituting ions of the used bioceramic.
Conclusions: The incorporation of Cu-doped Mg-Ca silicates into polymer-matrix scaffolds at optimal levels simultaneously improves biocompatibility and angiogenesis induction, serving as a suitable candidate for critical-sized bone tissue engineering.