Dexamethasone-Loaded PLGA Microspheres Incorporated PLLA/PLGA/PCL Composite Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering

The combination of micro-carriers and polymer scaffolds as promising bone grafts have attracted considerable interest in recent decades. The poly （ L-lactic acid ）/poly （ lactic-co-glycoHc acid ）/polycaprolactone （ PLLA/PLGA/PCL ） composite scaffold with porous structure was fabricated by thermally induced phase separation （TIPS）. Dexamethasone （DEX） was incorporated into scaffold to prepare the desired composite scaffold. The physicochemiral properties of the prepared composite scaffold were characterized. The morphology of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells （BMSCs） grown on scaffolds was observed using scanning, electron microscope （SEM） and fluorescence microscope. The results showed that the PLLA/PLGA/PCL scaffold had interconnected macropores and biomimetie nanofibrous structure. In addition, DEX can be released from scaffold in a sustained manner. More importantly, DEX loaded composite scaffold can effectively support the proliferation of BMSCs as indicated by fluorescence observation and cell proliferation assay. The results suggested that the prepared PLLA/PLGA/PCL composite scaffold incorporating drug-loaded PLGA microspheres could hold great potential for bone tissue engineering applications.