Porous crosslinked poly(ε-caprolactone fumarate)/nanohydroxyapatite composites for bone tissue engineering

Porous nanocomposites based on poly(ε‐caprolactone fumarate) (PCLF) resin matrix; N‐vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) as a reactive diluents and nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) filler were developed for bone tissue engineering applications. Nanocomposite scaffolds with three different contents of nHA [5, 10, and 20 (w/w %)] were prepared by thermal crosslinking of PCLF followed by particulate leaching and characterized in terms of mechanical properties (cyclic loading) and in vitro cell‐material interaction by MTT assay and alkaline phosphatase activity measurements. Five osteoblastic cell lines were used to investigate the ability of the nanocomposites to support cell attachment, spreading, and proliferation after 3, 7, and 14 days. By adding the nHA filler phase, elastic modulus of the nanocomposites increased significantly. Scaffolds showed comparable biocompatibility to neat nHA particles, commercial bone graft (Bio‐Oss) and tissue culture polystyrene as control groups. According to the results it can be concluded that these scaffolds are potential candidates for bone substitution because of their mechanical strength and bioactivity. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2012.