AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026170150
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Early Access

Low-density ZIF-8 coating optimizes the immune microenvironment of 3D-printed PCL scaffolds and promotes cranial defect repair

Qianyu Xie1,2 Xusihong Cai1,2,3 Guangquan Zhao1,2 Hao Tang1 Yuanhao Lv1,2 Jiaxiang Song1 Shuai Huang4* Weikang Xu2,4* Qingde Wa1*
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1 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Second Affiliate Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi 563000, China
2 Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510632, China
3 Nursing School of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou 563000, China
4 National Engineering Research Center for Healthcare Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Electronic Instruments and Materials, Guangdong Institute of Medical Instruments, Guangzhou, 510316, China
Received: 2 April 2026 | Revised: 13 May 2026 | Accepted: 14 May 2026 | Published online: 18 May 2026
© 2026 by the 026170150. 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

The hydrophobicity of 3D-printed PCL scaffolds leads to insufficient cell adhesion, limiting their application in bone repair. This study constructed zeolite imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) modified PCL scaffolds with different coating densities and systematically evaluated their physicochemical properties and osteogenic effects. The results showed that low-density ZIF-8-coated PCL scaffolds exhibited better biocompatibility and osteogenic differentiation promotion capacity, while maintaining structural stability and mechanical properties. Mechanistically, the low-density coating can induce macrophages toward M2 polarization, thereby forming a more favorable osteogenic immune microenvironment. Simultaneously, in a rat skull defect model, this scaffold significantly promoted new bone regeneration and defect repair. This study indicates that ZIF-8 coating density is a key parameter affecting the immunomodulatory osteogenic efficacy of PCL scaffolds, providing a basis for the design and optimization of metal-organic framework (MOF)-based coated scaffolds.

Keywords
3D-printed scaffold
Polycaprolactone
Zeolite imidazole framework-8
Macrophage polarization
Bone regeneration
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing