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. 2016 Dec 7;9(12):992.
doi: 10.3390/ma9120992.

Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Weiguang Wang  1 , Guilherme Caetano  2   3 , William Stephen Ambler  4 , Jonny James Blaker  5 , Marco Andrey Frade  6 , Parthasarathi Mandal  7 , Carl Diver  8 , Paulo Bártolo  9
Affiliations

Enhancing the Hydrophilicity and Cell Attachment of 3D Printed PCL/Graphene Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Weiguang Wang et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Scaffolds are physical substrates for cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation, ultimately leading to the regeneration of tissues. They must be designed according to specific biomechanical requirements, i.e., certain standards in terms of mechanical properties, surface characteristics, porosity, degradability, and biocompatibility. The optimal design of a scaffold for a specific tissue strongly depends on both materials and manufacturing processes, as well as surface treatment. Polymeric scaffolds reinforced with electro-active particles could play a key role in tissue engineering by modulating cell proliferation and differentiation. This paper investigates the use of an extrusion-based additive manufacturing system to produce poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/pristine graphene scaffolds for bone tissue applications and the influence of chemical surface modification on their biological behaviour. Scaffolds with the same architecture but different concentrations of pristine graphene were evaluated from surface property and biological points of view. Results show that the addition of pristine graphene had a positive impact on cell viability and proliferation, and that surface modification leads to improved cell response.

Keywords: biofabrication; composite materials; graphene; hydrophilicity; polycaprolactone; scaffolds; surface modification; tissue engineering.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of the apparent water-in-air contact angle for scaffolds containing different pristine graphene concentrations untreated and treated with NaOH 5M. * Statistical evidence (p < 0.05) analysed with a one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Top surface and cross-section scanning electron microscope images of neat PCL and 0.78 wt % pristine graphene scaffolds treated and untreated with NaOH.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cell viability/proliferation (Fluorescence intensity) after 3, 7, and 14 days of cell seeding. (a) Untreated scaffolds; (b) NaOH-treated scaffolds. * Statistical evidence (p < 0.05) analysed with a one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cell viability/proliferation (Fluorescence intensity) after 3, 7, and 14 days of cell seeding. (a) Untreated scaffolds; (b) NaOH-treated scaffolds. * Statistical evidence (p < 0.05) analysed with a one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Percentage of cells attached on the well plate surface (cells not attached to the scaffold) and percentage of cells attached on the scaffold after 3 days of cell seeding. * Statistical evidence (p < 0.05) analysed with a one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Cells attached on the scaffold. (a) SEM images after 21 days culture; (b) confocal images after 28 days culture.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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