AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ijb.8357
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Early Access

Composite bacterial cellulose-psoralen-polycaprolactone scaffold for enhanced bone regeneration and infection prevention in open bone defects

Bo Jiang1 Tianming Wang3 Fengyong Mao1 Xiao Zhao3 Qingqiang Yao3 Jiayi Li3* Yang Huang4* Jianchao Gui2*
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1 Orthopedics, Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
2 Sports Medicine and Joint Surgery, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
3 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Institute of Digital Medicine, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
4 International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals & Materials and Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing & Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing Forestry University,Nanjing, China
Submitted: 1 January 2025 | Accepted: 7 February 2025 | Published: 7 February 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

To develop a hybrid scaffold that enhances bone regeneration and preventing infections by integrating polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds for mechanical support with bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes for psoralen (Pso) delivery,aiming to improve open bone defect treatment. PCL scaffolds were fabricated via 3D printing, and BC was extracted from fungi to prepare three types of scaffolds: PCL, BC-PCL, and BC-Pso-PCL. The scaffolds were characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle measurement, and infrared spectroscopy. Biocompatibility was assessed by cytotoxicity (CCK-8) assay, cell migration assay, live/dead cell staining, and cell proliferation experiments. Antibacterial effects were tested under a simulated bacterial environment. Osteogenic performance was evaluated by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, Alizarin red staining(ARS), and immunofluorescence after osteogenic induction. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Western blotting (WB) were performed to analyze bone regeneration and angiogenesis markers. Bone regeneration efficacy was assessed in vivo using a 5 mm critical-sized cranial bone defect model in rats(Figure 1A-C). Biocompatibility studies demonstrated that all three scaffolds showed good biocompatibility. Under Staphylococcus aureus exposure, BC-Pso-PCL effectively inhibited bacterial growth. The ALP and ARS results following osteogenic induction indicated that the BC-Pso-PCL group exhibited superior ALP activity and mineralized nodule formation compared to other groups. Subsequent immunofluorescence, qPCR and Western blot further confirmed the outstanding osteogenic performance of BC-Pso-PCL. In vivo experiments demonstrated that the BC-Pso-PCL scaffold achieved the highest level of new bone formation in rat cranial defects. The BC-Pso-PCL scaffold not only demonstrated superior biocompatibility in cytotoxicity, cell migration, live/dead staining, and proliferation assays, but also promoted bone regeneration and angiogenesis. The in vivo study further confirmed the superior bone formation achieved by BC-Pso-PCL. These findings highlight the potential of BC-Pso-PCL as an implantable scaffold for the treatment of open bone defects, providing a promising solution for future clinical applications.

Keywords
Composite Scaffold
Bone Regeneration
Bone Infection
Psoralen
Drug Delivery
Funding
This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFB3813000), the Science and Technology Project of Jiangsu Province (No. BE2022718), Nanjing International Joint Research and Development Project (202201028) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82102567).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing