Layer by layer deposited osteoinductive scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

There are various bone regenerative and repair methods, but the use of osteoinductive scaffolds as bone grafts/substitute has gained wide importance worldwide. Here, an osteoinductive scaffold is developed which spontaneously stimulates stem cells to osteoblast formation without the use of any growth factor or differentiation media. We prepared electrospun PCL scaffold which is further modified for osteoinductivity by layer-by-layer method using graphene and Cissus quadrangularis callus culture extract (PCL-GP-CQ). The modified PCL-GP-CQ scaffold was compared with plain PCL scaffold and PCL coated only with GP. Physical properties such as roughness, wettability, yield strength and tensile strength of PCL-GP-CQ scaffold were found to be superior. Also, PCL-GP-CQ scaffold when seeded with human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells showed higher in vitro biocompatibility with enhanced cellular proliferation on its surface. Synergistic effect of graphene and Cissus Quadrangularis callus culture extract in scaffold boosted the differentiation of human Umbilical Cord Wharton’s jelly derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells into osteogenic lineage without any differentiation media in less than 20 days. The PCL-GP-CQ scaffold enhanced osteoblastic differentiation, osteoconduction and osteoinduction potential of scaffolds making them highly suitable for bone regeneration and bone tissue engineering applications.