Elena Verdun Cano

Visiting Student (University Francisco de Vitoria, Spain)

Fabrication of Bioactive glass (45S5)-based scaffolds coated with biopolymer containing mesoporous bioactive glass for bone tissue engineering applications

 

Supervisor: Usanee Pantulap, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Porous three-dimensional (3D) 45S5 bioactive glass-based scaffolds (BG scaffolds) fabricated by the foam replica technique have been investigated for more than 15 years for bone tissue engineering applications due to their architecture, biodegradability and bioactivity [1]. The highly interconnected porous network benefits nutrient transport and cell ingrowth, however a high porosity shows disadvantages leading to poor compressive strength. On the other hand, an ideal scaffold should provide good mechanical stability while maintaining scaffold bioactivity [1]. A layered polymer-coated scaffold can improve mechanical stability and enhance the BG surface functionalities. As recent studies suggest, gelatin coating of BG scaffolds increases mechanical robustness and bioactivity [2]. Thibault et al. [3] demonstrated that functionalized chitosan BG composites have great potential in reducing cytotoxicity and maintaining cell growth and morphology. Moreover, Zheng et al. [4] and Nawaz et al. [5]  investigated the efficient incorporation of mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNs) and gelatin-coated scaffolds to increase mechanical characteristics and bioactivity. Therefore, this project investigates the mechanical properties, bioactivity, and biodegradation rate of BG scaffolds incorporating chitosan/gelatin/mesoporous bioactive glass coating.

[1] Q. Z. Chen, I. D. Thompson, and A. R. Boccaccini, “45S5 Bioglass®-derived glass-ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering,” Biomaterials, vol. 27, no. 11, pp. 2414–2425, 2006

[2] T. Reiter, T. Panick, K. Schuhladen, J. A. Roether, J. Hum, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Bioactive glass based scaffolds coated with gelatin for the sustained release of icariin,” Bioact. Mater., vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1–7, 2019

[3] M. H. Thibault et al., “Assessing the potential of boronic acid/chitosan/bioglass composite materials for tissue engineering applications,” Mater. Sci. Eng. C, vol. 110, p. 110674, 2020

[4] K. Zheng, J. Wu, W. Li, D. Dippold, Y. Wan, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Incorporation of Cu-Containing Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles in Gelatin-Coated Scaffolds Enhances Bioactivity and Osteogenic Activity,” ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng., vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 1546–1557, 2018

[5] Q. Nawaz et al., “Bioactive glass based scaffolds incorporating gelatin/manganese doped mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticle coating,” Ceram. Int., vol. 45, no. 12, pp. 14608–14613, 2019