Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics Research Group

Papers in Scientific Journals

Reinforcement of Poly-L-lactic acid Electrospun Membranes with Strontium Borosilicate Bioactive Glasses for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Herein, for the first time, we combined poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) with a strontium borosilicate bioactive glass (BBG-Sr) using electrospinning to fabricate a composite bioactive PLLA membrane loaded with 10% (w/w) of BBG-Sr glass par- ticles (PLLA-BBG-Sr). The composites were characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microcomputer tomography (μ-CT), and the results showed that we successfully fabricated smooth and uniform fibres (1–3 μm in width) with a homogeneous distribution of BBG-Sr microparticles (<45 μm). Degradation studies (in phosphate buffered saline) demonstrated that the incorporation of BBG-Sr glass particles into the PLLA membranes increased their degradability and water uptake with a continuous release of cations. The addition of BBG-Sr glass particles enhanced the membrane’s mechanical properties (69% higher Young modulus and 36% higher tensile strength). Furthermore, cellular in vitro evaluation using bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) demonstrated that PLLA-BBG-Sr mem- branes promoted the osteogenic differentiation of the cells as demonstrated by increased alkaline phosphatase activity and up-regulated osteogenic gene expression (Alpl, Sp7 and Bglap) in relation to PLLA alone. These results strongly suggest that the composite PLLA membranes reinforced with the BBG-Sr glass particles have potential as an effective biomater- ial capable of promoting bone regeneration. 

Journal
Acta Biomaterialia
Volume
44
Pagination
168-177
Publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
1742-7061
URL
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S174270611630438X
Keywords
BM-MSCs, Mineralisation, osteogenic differentiation, PLLA membranes, Strontium borosilicate glasses
Rights
Restricted Access (6 Months)
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Status
published
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