The potential of natural polysaccharides: chemical approaches for bone tissue regeneration

Abstract

There are approximately 44 million people in the United States alone who suffer from diseases that cause bone density loss; and as life expectancy increases, so do the probabilities of being inflicted with such diseases. In the last decades, cell-based approaches for bone tissue engineering, have relied on using models that fail to reproduce either the complexity of the bone 3D microenvironment or the nanoscale characteristics of mineralized bone collagen. In this work three different biopolymers, fabricated with distinct methodologies are evaluated as potential scaffolds to aid in bone tissue regeneration (BTR) were explored.

First, an organic - inorganic coordination approach was realized using Sodium Alginate (NaAlg) and Iron III. Second, an organic - biological approach was achieved using Cellulose Acetate (CA) and bioactive peptides. And third, an inorganic - organic approach was performed using Hydroxyapatite (HAp) and Cellulose Nanocrystal (CNC) biopolymer. The first and second approaches were completed using the electrospinning (ES) technique while the third approach was done using a sol-gel technique. The biomaterials created were characterized using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrarred Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimmetric Analysis (TGA), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Zeta Potential. The biological evaluation of the prepared scaffolds was assessed using Immunocytochemical (ICC) and Viability assays. Between the three explored approaches, the organic-biological approach showed the most potential to favor natural osteoblastic responses required for osseointegration.