Surface controlled biomimetic coating of polycaprolactone nanofiber meshes to be used as bone extracellular matrix analogues

摘要

The aim of this work was to develop novel electrospun nanofiber meshes coated with abiomimetic calcium phosphate (BCP) layer that mimics the extracellular microenvironment foundin the human bone structure. Poly(!-caprolactone) (PCL) was selected because of its well-knownmedical applications, its biodegradability, biocompatibility and its susceptibility to partial hydrolysisby a straightforward alkaline treatment. The deposition of a calcium phosphate layer, similar to theinorganic phase of bone, on PCL nanofiber meshes was achieved by means of a surface modification.This initial surface modification was followed by treatment with solutions containing calcium andphosphate ions. The process was finished by a posterior immersion in a simulated body fluid(SBF) with nearly 1.5× the inorganic concentration of the human blood plasma ions. After someoptimization work, the best conditions were chosen to perform the biological assays. The influenceof the bone-like BCP layer on the viability and adhesion, as well as on the proliferation of humanosteoblast-like cells, was assessed. It was shown that PCL nanofiber meshes coated with a BCP layersupport and enhance the proliferation of osteoblasts for long culture periods. The attractive propertiesof the coated structures produced in the present work demonstrated that those materials have potentialto be used for applications in bone tissue engineering. This is the first time that nanofiber meshescould be coated with a biomimetic bone-like calcium phosphate layer produced in a way that theoriginal mesh architecture can be fully maintained.