Bioactive calcium phosphate silicate ceramic surface-modified PLGA for tendon-to-bone healing

Abstract Due to the dissimilar features between the tendon and bone, tendon to bone healing is the most challenging problems in sports medicine. In the present work, a novel bioactive calcium phosphate silicate ceramic (CPS) was coated on the surface of PLGA films using electron beam evaporation (EBE) technique to prepare a tailorable composite film with layered chemical composition similar to tendon-bone interface. The physicochemical behaviors of the CPS-PLGA composite films were characterized and the cytocompatibility were also investigated. It was found that the CPS-modified samples exhibited a significantly improved hydrophilicity and a more negative zeta potential. Cell culture results showed that the CPS-modified samples were beneficial to the attachment and proliferation of rBMSCs and NIH3T3 cells. CPS-modified samples also showed an improved osteogenic activity. The results suggested that CPS-modified PLGA films have great potentials for tendon-bone healing.