Biodegradable poly(ester urethane)urea scaffolds for tissue engineering: interaction with osteoblast-like MG-63 cells

Abstract

Porous three-dimensional scaffolds with potential for application as cancellous bone graft substitutes were prepared from aliphatic segmented poly(ester urethane) urea using the phase-inverse technique. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance, size-exclusion chromatography, electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, secondary ion mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, computed tomography and mechanical tests were carried out, to characterize the scaffolds’ physicochemical properties. Human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells were seeded into the scaffolds for 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks to evaluate their potential to support attachment, growth and proliferation of osteogenic cells. The scaffold–cell interaction was assessed by analysis of DNA content, total protein amount, alkaline phosphatase activity and WST-1 assay. The scaffolds supported cell attachment, growth and proliferation over the whole culture period of 4 weeks (DNA, total protein amount). There was, however, a reduction in the WST-1 assay values at 4 weeks, which might suggest a reduction in the rate of cell proliferation at this time.