The osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells on Elaeagnus angustifolia extract incorporated PCL based nanofibers

Introduction Tissue engineering strategy involving the combination of cells, scaffolds and growth factors has emerged as a new approach in bone regeneration. The scaffold serves as an initial structure to retain the cells in the defects and to support the cell growth and phenotype maintenance (1-3). Nanofibers mimic the composite nature of bone as well as the nanoscale features of extracellular matrix (ECM). Elaeagnus angustifolia (EA) is one of the medicinal herbs with antibacterial and antioxidant properties widely used in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis symptoms. The aim of this work is to develop a new composite scaffold of EA loaded PCL-PEG-PCL by electrospinning and to evaluate their potential application as scaffolds for tissue regeneration applications. Materials and methods PCL-PEG-PCL was dissolved in appropriate solvents to prepare 15 wt% solutions. Then, EA extracts were added to PCL-PEG-PCL solutions and stirred for 24 h. Scaffolds were obtained by adjustment of spinning conditions. The morphology of the composite nanofibers was studied with FE-SEM. hDPSCs were then cultured on the scaffolds to evaluate the adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of cells on scaffolds. Results and discussion The fabricated scaffold shows uniform pore morphologies. It is worth noting that the diameter of PCL-PEG-PCL and PCL-PEG-PCL/EA fibers were in the sequence of 210±20.2 and 300±15.9 nm, respectively. MTT assays and SEM showed that the PCL-PEG-PCL/EA membranes had no negative effect on the cell viability. These results suggested that the obtained EA/polymer nanofibers membranes in this study might have prospective applications in tissue engineering field. Alkaline phosphatase activity confirmed the nanofibrous scaffolds could induce the osteoblastic performance of hDPSCs. Conclusion PCL-PEG-PCL/EA membranes were prepared through electrospinning. The morphology of the membranes displayed that the surfaces of the PCL-PEG-PCL/EA nanofibers were porous. In vitro cell culture and MTT assays showed that the nanofibers had good biocompatibility; hDPSCs could attach and grow on the scaffolds and differentiate to osteogenesis.