Osteoinductive Agents-Incorporated Three-Dimensional\nBiphasic Polymer Scaffold for Synergistic Bone Regeneration

Abstract

Large-scale\nbone defects are difficult to be regenerated entirely\nin the clinical practice. Bone tissue engineering has drawn more attention\nas an alternative to bone grafting owing to its convenience and flexibility.\nHowever, the low bioactivity of scaffolds and adverse effects of growth\nfactors have hindered its practical application. Herein, the properties\nof poly­(lactic-<i>co</i>-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffold,\nincluding hydrophilicity and mechanical strength, were improved by\na gelatin coating incorporated with two small molecules, alendronate\n(ALD) and naringin (NG). Interestingly, these two drugs demonstrated\na synergistic effect for the repair of rat calvarial defect, as ALD\nhad an inhibitory impact on osteoclast activity and NG had an osteogenic\neffect on mesenchymal stem cells. From the results of histopathological\nstaining and microcomputed tomography, the PLGA scaffold incorporated\nwith gelatin, ALD, and NG (PLGA+Gelatin/ALD/NG) almost completely\nrepaired the rat calvarial defect with physiological integrity at\n16 weeks. In all, this biphasic scaffold can be a promising alternative\nto the conventional scaffold for clinical application.