In vitroevaluation of biomimetic chitosan–calcium phosphate scaffolds with potential application in bone tissue engineering

Tanase, C E; Sartoris, A; Popa, M I; Verestiuc, L; Unger, R E; Kirkpatrick, C J

Abstract

This work reports on the physicochemical properties and in vitro cytotoxicity assessment of chitosan–calcium phosphate (Cs–CP) scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, which were synthesized by a novel biomimetic co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) along with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis confirmed the porous morphology of the scaffolds and the amorphous nature of the inorganic phase with different crystallite sizes and the formation of various forms of calcium phosphate. Compressive mechanical testing revealed that the Young's modulus of the biomaterials is in the range of human trabecular bone. In vitro tests were performed on the biomaterials for up to 14 days to study the behavior of the osteoblast-like human cell line (MG63), primary human osteoblasts (HOS) and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC). The cytotoxicity was evaluated by the MTS assay for cell metabolism and the detection of membrane integrity (lactate dehydrogenase-LDH release). An expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the cell supernatants was quantified by ELISA. Cell viability gave values close to untreated controls for MG63 and HOS, while in the case of HDMEC the viability after 2 weeks in the cell culture was between 80–90%. The cytotoxicity induced by the Cs–CP scaffolds on MG63, HOS and HDMEC in vitro was evaluated by the amount of LDH released, which is a sensitive and accurate marker for cellular toxicity. The increased levels of VEGF obtained in the osteoblast culture highlights its important role in the regulation of vascularization and bone remodeling. The biological responses of the Cs–CP scaffolds demonstrate a similar proliferation and differentiation characteristics of the cells comparable to the controls. These results reveal that biomimetic Cs–CP composite scaffolds are promising biomaterials for bone tissue engineering; their in vivo response remains to be tested.

Citation

Tanase, C. E., Sartoris, A., Popa, M. I., Verestiuc, L., Unger, R. E., & Kirkpatrick, C. J. (2013). In vitroevaluation of biomimetic chitosan–calcium phosphate scaffolds with potential application in bone tissue engineering. Biomedical Materials, 8(2), Article 025002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-6041/8/2/025002

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 10, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Jan 23, 2013
• Publication Date: Jan 23, 2013
• Deposit Date: Mar 15, 2021
• Journal: Biomedical Materials
• Print ISSN: 1748-6041
• Electronic ISSN: 1748-605X
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 2
• Article Number: 025002
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-6041/8/2/025002
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3961707
• Publisher URL: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-6041/8/2/025002