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. 2023 Jun 14;15(6):1728.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15061728.

Electrospun Fibrous Silica for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

Alexandra Elena Stoica Oprea  1 , Alexandra Cătălina Bîrcă  1 , Oana Gherasim  2 , Anton Ficai  1 , Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu  1   3   4 , Ovidiu-Cristian Oprea  4   5 , Bogdan Ștefan Vasile  6   7   8 , Cornel Balta  9 , Ecaterina Andronescu  1   4 , Anca Oana Hermenean  9
Affiliations

Electrospun Fibrous Silica for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

Alexandra Elena Stoica Oprea et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

The production of highly porous and three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds with biomimicking abilities has gained extensive attention in recent years for tissue engineering (TE) applications. Considering the attractive and versatile biomedical functionality of silica (SiO2) nanomaterials, we propose herein the development and validation of SiO2-based 3D scaffolds for TE. This is the first report on the development of fibrous silica architectures, using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) during the self-assembly electrospinning (ES) processing (a layer of flat fibers must first be created in self-assembly electrospinning before fiber stacks can develop on the fiber mat). The compositional and microstructural characteristics of obtained fibrous materials were evaluated by complementary techniques, in both the pre-ES aging period and post-ES calcination. Then, in vivo evaluation confirmed their possible use as bioactive scaffolds in bone TE.

Keywords: electrospinning; fibrous silica; tissue regeneration.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Surgical procedure. (A) Execution of the 5 mm critical size defect in the rat calvarium. (B) Placement of the silica-based fibrous scaffolds. (C,D) Closure of the periosteum and overlaying skin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
FT-IR spectra recorded for SiO2/PVA_0h aging (pink), SiO2_0h aging (blue), SiO2/PVA_1.5h aging (purple), and SiO2_1.5h aging (orange).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Thermal analysis for SiO2/PVA_0h aging (red), SiO2_0h aging (black), SiO2/PVA_1.5h aging (mauve) and SiO2_1.5h aging (brown).
Figure 4
Figure 4
SEM images (a1–d1,a2–d2) and diameter size distribution (including average diameter values, (a3–d3)) recorded for SiO2/PVA_0h aging (a1–a3), SiO2_0h aging, 500 °C (b1–b3), SiO2/PVA_1.5h aging (c1–c3) and SiO2_1.5h aging (d1–d3).
Figure 5
Figure 5
TEM images recorded for SiO2/PVA_0h aging (a1,a2), SiO2_0h aging (b1,b2), SiO2/PVA_1.5h aging (c1,c2) and SiO2_1.5h aging (d1,d2).
Figure 6
Figure 6
In vivo radiographs of the bone samples after 4 weeks of implantation of silica-based scaffolds.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Histological aspect of the bone samples at 4 weeks post-surgery (H&E stain). Symbols: dotted line—separates healthy tissue from the defect; HB—host bone; CT—connective tissue; NB—new bone. Magnification ×4 and ×50.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Histological aspect of the bone samples at 4 weeks post-surgery (Alizarin-Red stain). Magnification ×20.
Figure 9
Figure 9
SEM images of the bone samples at 4 weeks post-surgery.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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