Biodegradable scaffolds for tissue engineering fabricated by surface selective laser sintering

Abstract

Novel Surface Selective Laser Sintering (SSLS) technique enable precise fabrication of complicated 3D composite biodegradable scaffolds from thermosensitive polylactic and polylactic-co-glycolic acids and even retain bioactivity of incorporated enzymes. The presence of carbon black (CB) nanoparticles in SSLS structures raised concerns about their toxicity and biocompatibility. In present paper we studied this by diverse in vitro analysis using 3T3 fibroblasts, ovine meniscal chondrocytes and C2C12 myoblast cell cultures. All cells “readily” attached to and proliferated on CB containing surfaces. The abundance of live cells spreading out and covering the entire SSLS porous structures confirms their high biocompatibility. Moreover, C2C12 cells in the presence of morphogenetic protein rhBMP-2 have shown strong shift in differentiation pathway from myoblastic to osteoblastic type. These promising results encouraged us to further development of SSLS methodology targeted to custom-designed biodegradable scaffolds and implant fabrication.