Fabrication of biomimetic PCL scaffold using rapid prototyping for bone tissue engineering

We report the fabrication of a porous three-dimensional (3D) scaffold using a 3D plotting system, with applications in bone tissue engineering. Biomimetic surface coatings of hydroxyapatite were formed using concentrated simulated body fluid (SBF). The mineralized scaffold had a uniform interconnected porous structure. The apatite that was formed on the surface of the scaffold was characterized by using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The biological properties of the scaffold were evaluated using WST-1 assays of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and gene expression of D1 mouse mesenchymal stem cells. The results show that the biomimetic scaffolds exhibited good apatite-forming properties, with favorable cell proliferation and differentiation for bone formation. Therefore, these biomimetic scaffolds with hydroxyapatite coatings have potential applications in bone regeneration.