Proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on three-dimensional scaffolds made by thermal sintering method

This article presents a thermal sintering method to fabricate porous bone tissue engineering scaffolds based on polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), and their composites. The mechanical properties, porous structure, biodegradability, and biocompatibility of sintered scaffolds were evaluated. The scaffolds showed a porosity in the range of 86–91% with a pore size of 75 m μ to 400 m μ . PCL/PLA composite scaffolds showed a Young’s modulus of around 49 MPa, which was between the modulus values of PCL (24 MPa) and PLA (63 MPa) scaffolds. Fibroblast cells (SNL) exhibited spreading and adhesion on the scaffolds, and scaffolds demonstrated a significant difference in the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) after 7 and 14 days of culture in comparison with the control (tissue culture polystyrene). Our results demonstrated that the thermally sintered PCL/PLA composite scaffold could be a promising candidate for bone tissue regeneration.