In vitro Apatite Mineralization, Degradability, Cytocompatibility and in vivo New Bone Formation and Vascularization of Bioactive Scaffold of Polybutylene Succinate/Magnesium Phosphate/Wheat Protein Ternary Composite

Purpose A bioactive and degradable scaffold of ternary composite with good biocompatibility and osteogenesis was developed for bone tissue repair. Materials and Methods Polybutylene succinate (PS:50 wt%), magnesium phosphate (MP:40 wt%) and wheat protein (WP:10 wt%) composite (PMWC) scaffold was fabricated, and the biological performances of PMWC were evaluated both in vitro and vivo in this study. Results PMWC scaffold possessed not only interconnected macropores (400 μm to 600 μm) but also micropores (10 μm ~20 μm) on the walls of macropores. Incorporation of MP into composite improved the apatite mineralization (bioactivity) of PMWC scaffold in simulated body fluid (SBF), and addition of WP into composite further enhanced the degradability of PMWC in PBS compared with the scaffold of PS (50 wt%)/MP (50 wt%) composite (PMC) and PS alone. In addition, the PMWC scaffold containing MP and WP significantly promoted the proliferation and differentiation of mouse pre-osteoblastic cell line (MC3T3-E1) cells. Moreover, the images from synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography (SRmCT) and histological sections of the in vivo implantation suggested that the PMWC scaffold containing MP and WP prominently improved the new bone formation and ingrowth compared with PMC and PS. Furthermore, the immunohistochemical analysis further confirmed that the PMWC scaffold obviously promoted osteogenesis and vascularization in vivo compared with PMC and PS. Conclusion This study demonstrated that the biocompatible PMWC scaffold with improved bioactivity and degradability significantly promoted the osteogenesis and vascularization in vivo, which would have a great potential to be applied for bone tissue repair.