Zinc-doped hydroxyapatite and poly(propylene fumarate) nanocomposite scaffold for bone tissue engineering

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 57; no. 10; pp. 5998 - 6012
• Main Authors: Li, Yong, Liu, Xifeng, Gaihre, Bipin, Li, Linli, Rezaei, Asghar, Miller, A. Lee, Waletzki, Brian, Park, Sungjo, Terzic, Andre, Lu, Lichun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alizarin; Alkaline phosphatase; Atomic force microscopy; Bioceramics; Biocompatibility; Biomedical materials; Bones; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Crystal structure; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Differentiation (biology); Electron microscopy; Hydroxyapatite; Materials for Life Sciences; Materials Science; Microscopy; Nanocomposites; Phosphatases; Physical properties; Polymer Sciences; Polypropylene fumarate; Powders; Propylene; Scaffolds; Solid Mechanics; Tissue engineering; Zinc; Zinc compounds
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-022-06966-7

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is a bioceramic material that shares similar crystal and chemical structures with inorganic components of the bone. However, HA lacks osteoinductive activity and has a brittle nature, making it challenging to apply for direct load-bearing bone applications. In this study, we used a wet chemical method to synthesize zinc-doped hydroxyapatite powders with different Zn/(Zn+Ca) molar ratios of 0, 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1. The corresponding Zn-HA was designated as HA, Zn2.5-HA, Zn5-HA, and Zn10-HA. The Zn-HA powders at 30 wt% were used to fabricate poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF)-based nanocomposite scaffolds (HA/PPF, Zn2.5-HA/PPF, Zn5-HA/PPF, and Zn10-HA/PPF). The physical properties of obtained scaffolds were examined by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Live/dead cell viability assay showed that these scaffolds were biocompatible and supported excellent adhesion of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblast cells. Additionally, the proliferation of cells was detected at 1, 4, and 7 days on these scaffolds. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity measurement and alizarin red staining showed good osteogenic differentiation and matrix mineralization for MC3T3-E1 cells growing on these scaffolds. Taken together, the results here indicate that Zn5-HA/PPF nanocomposite scaffolds are promising scaffold material for bone tissue engineering. Graphical abstract