Mineralization and Characterization of Composite Lyophilized Gelatin Sponges Intended for Early Bone Regeneration

The application of freeze-dried gelatin sponges as alternative bone grafting substitutes has many advantages, including the ability to swell, high porosity, tailorable degradation, and versatility to incorporate multiple components such as growth factors and nanofillers. The purpose of this study was to mineralize (M) and further characterize 1-Ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl]carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) cross-linked gelatin sponges enhanced with preparations rich in growth factors, hydroxyapatite, and chitin whiskers (PHCE). Sponges were characterized for their swelling and in vitro mineralization potential, surface characteristics, protein release, mechanical properties, and MG-63 cell attachment and infiltration. All sponges swelled up to 50% of their original volume upon hydration. Scanning electron microscopy showed sparse mineral deposition for gelatin-M scaffolds while PHCE-M scaffolds exhibited more uniform mineral nucleation. Over 21 days, PHCE-M scaffolds cumulatively released significantly more (30%) of its initial protein content than all other scaffolds. PHCE-M scaffolds reported lower modulus values (1.3-1.6 MPa) when compared to gelatin control scaffolds (1.6-3.2 MPa). Increased cell attachment and infiltration was noticed on PHCE and PHCE-M scaffolds. The results of the study demonstrate the enhanced performance of PHCE and PHCE-M scaffolds to serve as bone healing scaffolds. Their potential to release incorporated factors, comparable composition/mechanical properties to tissues developed in the early stages of bone healing, and enhanced initial cellular response make them suitable for further studies evaluating more complex cellular interactions.