Assessment of bone regeneration of a tissue-engineered bone complex using human dental pulp stem cells/poly(ε-caprolactone)-biphasic calcium phosphate scaffold constructs in rabbit calvarial defects

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of a fabricated combination of poly-ɛ-caprolactone (PCL)-biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) with the modified melt stretching and multilayer deposition (mMSMD) technique on human dental pulp stem cell (hDPSC) differentiation to be osteogenic like cells for bone regeneration of calvarial defects in rabbit models. hDPSCs extracted from human third molars were seeded onto mMSMD PCL-BCP scaffolds and the osteogenic gene expression was tested prior to implantation in vivo. Two standardized 11 mm in diameter circular calvarial defects were created in 18 adult male New Zealand white rabbits. The rabbits were divided into 4 groups: (1) hDPSCs seeded in mMSMD PCL-BCP scaffolds; (2) mMSMD PCL-BCP scaffolds alone, (3) empty defects and (4) autogenous bone (n = 3 site/time point/groups). After two, four and eight weeks after the operation, the specimens were harvested for micro-CT including histological and histomorphometric analysis. The explicit results presented an interesting view of the bioengineered constructs of hDPSCs in PCL-BCP scaffolds that increased the newly formed bone compared to the empty defect and scaffold alone groups. The results demonstrated that hDPSCs combined with mMSMD PCL-BCP scaffolds may be an augmentation material for bony defect.