Volume 109, Issue 11 pp. 2334-2345
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Intrinsic osteoinductivity of PCL-DA/PLLA semi-IPN shape memory polymer scaffolds

Ahmad S. Arabiyat

Ahmad S. Arabiyat

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, USA

Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, USA

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Michaela R. Pfau

Michaela R. Pfau

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

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Melissa A. Grunlan

Melissa A. Grunlan

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

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Mariah S. Hahn

Corresponding Author

Mariah S. Hahn

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, USA

Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, USA

Correspondence

Mariah S. Hahn PhD, Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 14 May 2021
Citations: 9

Ahmad S. Arabiyat and Michaela R. Pfau contributed equally to this work.

Funding information: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Grant/Award Number: R01DK095101-01A1; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Texas A&M University; National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Grant/Award Number: R01DE025886-03

Abstract

Engineering osteoinductive, self-fitting scaffolds offers a potential treatment modality to repair irregularly shaped craniomaxillofacial bone defects. Recently, we innovated on osteoinductive poly(ε-caprolactone)-diacrylate (PCL-DA) shape memory polymers (SMPs) to incorporate poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) into the PCL-DA network, forming a semi-interpenetrating network (semi-IPN). Scaffolds formed from these PCL-DA/PLLA semi-IPNs display stiffnesses within the range of trabecular bone and accelerated degradation relative to scaffolds formed from slowly degrading PCL-DA SMPs. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time that PCL-DA/PLLA semi-IPN SMP scaffolds show increased intrinsic osteoinductivity relative to PCL-DA. We also confirm that application of a bioinspired polydopamine (PD) coating further improves the osteoinductive capacity of these PCL-DA/PLLA semi-IPN SMPs. In the absence of osteogenic supplements, protein level assessment of human mesenchymal stem cells (h-MSCs) cultured in PCL-DA/PLLA scaffolds revealed an increase in expression of osteogenic markers osterix, bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4), and collagen 1 alpha 1 (COL1A1), relative to PCL-DA scaffolds and osteogenic medium controls. Likewise, the expression of runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) and BMP-4 was elevated in the presence of PD-coating. In contrast, the chondrogenic and adipogenic responses associated with the scaffolds matched or were reduced relative to osteogenic medium controls, indicating that the scaffolds display intrinsic osteoinductivity.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declare no competing conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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