Chemically modified cellulose fibrous meshes for use as tissue engineering scaffolds

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Materials Chemistry

Background:

• Developing advanced scaffolds is crucial for bone tissue engineering.
• Cellulose-based materials offer biocompatibility but require functionalization for enhanced bioactivity.
• Improving protein retention and cell integration is key for scaffold efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and characterize robust cellulose and sulfated cellulose fibrous meshes.
• To evaluate the protein retention and biological activity of these meshes.
• To assess the potential of sulfated cellulose meshes as bone tissue engineering scaffolds.

Main Methods:

• Electrospinning of cellulose and sulfated cellulose fibers.
• Thermal-mechanical annealing for structural integrity.
• Chemical sulfation for enhanced functionality.
• Assessment of protein binding and bioactivity (BMP-2).
• In vitro studies on rat bone marrow stromal cell attachment and differentiation.

Main Results:

• Fabricated meshes demonstrated excellent structural and mechanical stability in aqueous environments.
• Sulfated cellulose mesh showed significantly higher retention of human recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-2 compared to native cellulose.
• Retained bone morphogenetic protein-2 remained biologically active for at least 7 days.
• Sulfated cellulose mesh enhanced attachment and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells without exogenous growth factors.

Conclusions:

• Sulfated cellulose fibrous meshes possess superior protein retention and bioactivity.
• These meshes effectively support cell attachment and osteogenic differentiation.
• The developed sulfated cellulose fibrous mesh is a highly promising scaffold for bone tissue engineering applications.