Influence of cassette design on three-dimensional perfusion culture of artificial bone

Media perfusion is often required to maintain cell viability within topographically complex 3-dimensional scaffold cultures. Osteoblast-seeded scaffolds for bone regeneration require robust cell proliferation and survival both within the scaffold and over the exterior for optimal osteogenic capacity. Conventional press-fitting cassettes ensure internal fluid flow through the scaffold but may restrict external flow around the scaffold, resulting in a barren (cell-free) external scaffold surface. In this study, we aimed to solve this problem by modifying the cassette structure to enhance external flow in an oscillatory perfusion culture system. Mouse osteoblast-like MC 3T3-E1 cells were seeded in porous ceramic scaffolds and incubated for 3 days either under static culture conditions or in an oscillatory perfusion bioreactor. Scaffolds were held in the bioreactor with either conventional press-fitting cassettes or cassettes with rings to separate the scaffold exterior from the internal cassette wall. The external surfaces of scaffolds maintained under static conditions were well seeded, but cells failed to grow deeply into the core, reflecting poor internal chemotransport. Alternatively, scaffolds cultured by perfusion with press-fitting cassettes had poor cell viability at the cassette-external scaffold surface interface, but cells were widely distributed within the scaffold core. Scaffolds cultured using the modified cassettes with 1 or 2 rings exhibited uniformly distributed living cells throughout the internal pores and over the entire external surface, possibly because of the improved medium flow over the scaffold surface. This modified oscillatory perfusion culture system may facilitate the production of engineered bone with superior osteogenic capacity for grafting.