[The effects of polycaprolactone/gelatin electrospun membranes on MC3T3-E1 osteogenic properties]

To study the effect of electrospinning polycaprolactone (PCL) /gelatin (GE) composite material as a guided bone regeneration membrane on osteogenic properties of mouse embryonic osteoblast precursor cells MC3T3-E1.

The electrospinning technology was used to fabricate different ratios of PCL/GE nanofiber membranes on tinfoil, and the GE ratios of 0%, 30% and 50% were grouped as PCL, P7G3 and P5G5, with pure PCL as the control group. The morphology, composition, and hydrophilicity were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle measurement, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). CCK-8 was used to detect the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 on the material. The cell adhesion morphology was observed by SEM, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and alizarin red staining (ARS) were used to study osteogenic differentiation. The expression levels of osteogenic differentiation related genes were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 8 software.

SEM showed that the electrospun membranes exhibited a fibrous structure, contact angle measuring instrument showed increasing hydrophilicity of electrospun membranes mixed with gelatin. The successful addition of gelatin was displayed by FTIR and XPS. The results of cell proliferation indicated that all groups of materials had good cell activity, and group P7G3 had the best cell proliferation, and the difference was statistically significant. ALP, ARS showed that group PCL/GE had a promoting effect on cell osteogenic differentiation. qRT-PCR indicated that the expression level of osteogenic differentiation related genes were elevated in PCL/GE, with the best in the group of P5G5.

The PCL/GE electrospun membranes has good biocompatibility and the potential to promote cell proliferation, adhesion, and osteogenic differentiation. Among them, the group P7G3 has the best proliferative ability, while the group P5G5 has a better effect in promoting bone formation.