Development of organic solvent-free micro-/nano-porous polymer scaffolds for musculoskeletal regeneration

The use of biomaterial scaffolds has been an enormous field of research in tissue engineering, where the aim is to use graft materials for assisting the human body in recovering lost functions. Currently, there are many ways biomaterial scaffolds can be fabricated; however, many of these techniques involve the use of toxic organic solvents during the process. As biocompatibility is one of the mandatory requirements in designing a successful scaffold, there is an interest in fabricating scaffolds that are completely organic solvent-free. This paper describes the development and characterization of novel micro-/nano-fibrillar composites (MFC/NFC) that can produce scaffolds which are completely free from organic solvents. In this research, the cytocompatibility of these materials have been tested in vitro using mouse osteoblast-like cells and primary rat tenocytes, where cell numbers increase over the culture period, demonstrating the material viability. Gene expression analysis of primary rat tenocytes on MFC/NFC scaffolds demonstrate tenocytic behavior, and histology studies show an increase in cell formation on NFC scaffolds. This study establishes the potential of using the MFC/NFC technique to produce completely organic solvent-free scaffolds capable of hosting musculoskeletal cells, in the hope of providing a graft material for non-union skeletal fractures and rotator cuff repairs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 1393-1404, 2017.