In vitro and in vivo evaluation of hydrogel-based scaffold for bone tissue engineering application

Abstract

The main objective of the current assay was to fabricate a sophisticated and effective scaffold based on the nanofibrous structure in combination with the 3D structure of hydrogels for bone tissue engineering. In this scenario, we fabricated nanofibers using electrospinning and carbonized them. The processed nanofibers were added to the polymeric solution and cross-linked to embedded nanofibers into the 3D structure of hydrogel. The obtained constructs were characterized using the most relevant characterization techniques. The results showed that as-prepared nanofibers have a diameter of 185 ± 63 nm and some breakages and fusions in the nanofiber's structure are apparent. The electron microscopy showed that the obtained 3D structure has a porous architecture with interconnected pores that are beneficial for bone regeneration. The biological evaluations also showed that the fabricated 3D scaffold was hemocompatible, cytocompatible, and regenerated new bone tissue in an animal model. In conclusion, these results implied that the fabricated NFC-integrated 3D scaffold exhibited promising characteristics beneficial for bone regeneration and can be applied as the bone tissue engineering scaffold.