Fabrication of a bionic artificial bone scaffold using a room temperature three dimensional printing technique / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To prepare a bionic artificial bone scaffold using a room temperature three dimensional (3D) printing technique and evaluate its biocompatibility and bioactivity in vitro.Methods A room temperature 3D printing technique was applied to fabricate 3D bionic artificial bone scaffolds using collagen/hydroxyapatite.The physico-chemical structure,porosity and mechanical strength of the scaffolds were assessed.The extract liquid of scaffolds was cocultured with bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) to evaluate the toxicity of scaffolds.There were 3 experimental groupsblank control with no scaffolds,printed scaffolds group and non-printed scaffolds group.The condition of BMSCs on the scaffolds was observed via scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and immunostaining.3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and SEM were applied to monitor the proliferation of BMSCs on the scaffolds.At last,alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mRNA expression levels of osteogenesis-related genes were detected to assess the osteoinductive property of the scaffolds.Results The 3D printed scaffolds fabricated in the present study were characterized by highly interconnected pores which were controllable and even in size.The cross section of the scaffolds presented an irregular honeycomb-like microstructure.The porosity of printed 3D scaffolds (71.14％ ± 2.24％) was significantly higher than that of non-printed scaffolds (59.04％ ±2.98％) (P ＜ 0.05).The physico-chemical structures of the materials were preserved after printing without additional cytotoxicity.The MTT results at 7 and 14 days revealed that the printed scaffolds had a significantly more cell numbers than the non-printed scaffolds(P ＜ 0.05).SEM showed that the BMSCs adhered well onto the printed scaffolds and proliferated and migrated through the pores.Compared with the blank control,the printed scaffolds showed obviously better osteogenic outcomes.Conclusion The 3D bionic artificial bone scaffolds of collagen/hydroxyapatite manufactured by a room temperature 3D printing technique can provide a good extracellular matrix for BMSCs to proliferate and differentiate.