Particle stabilised high internal phase emulsion scaffolds with interconnected porosity facilitate cell migration

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Designing bone tissue engineering (BTE) scaffolds requires balancing structural support with high porosity for nutrient diffusion and cell infiltration.
• The interconnectivity of pores within scaffolds significantly impacts cell behavior and tissue development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of scaffold interconnectivity on human bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) attachment, proliferation, infiltration, and osteogenic differentiation.
• To fabricate and characterize highly interconnected porous scaffolds (polyHIPEs) with tunable pore interconnectivity.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of polyHIPEs using emulsion templating with 2-ethylhexyl acrylate/isobornyl acrylate (IBOA).
• Tuning pore interconnectivity by varying the internal phase fraction (75%-85%) and characterizing pore structure.
• Evaluating BMSC (Y201) behavior, including attachment, proliferation, infiltration, and osteogenic differentiation on scaffolds with varying interconnectivity.

Main Results:

• High pore interconnectivity facilitated enhanced diffusion and cell infiltration throughout the scaffolds.
• Scaffolds with greater interconnectivity promoted superior osteogenic differentiation of Y201 cells, indicated by increased alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium, and collagen production.
• Interconnected pore networks positively influenced the development of interconnected cell networks within the scaffolds.

Conclusions:

• Scaffold interconnectivity is a critical parameter in bone tissue engineering.
• Optimizing pore interconnectivity in BTE scaffolds enhances nutrient transport, cell infiltration, and osteogenic differentiation.
• These findings support the development of advanced scaffolds for improved bone regeneration.