| Presently, tissue engineering is employed in the restoration and repair of tissue defects. Degradable scaffolds, stem
cells and stimulating factors are employed in this method. In this study, the effect of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH)
and/or hydroxyapatite (HA) on proliferation, osteoblast differentiation, and mineralization of human dental pulp stem cells
(hDPSCs) seeded on PLLA-PCL nanofibrous scaffolds was evaluated. For this aim, PLLA-PCL-HA nanofibrous scaffolds
were fabricated using electrospinning method. FE-SEM images exhibited that all nanofibers had bead-free morphologies
with average diameters ranging from 150-205 nm. Human DPSCs seeded into PLLA-PCL nanofibers were treated with
MSH. Cell viability, proliferation, morphology, osteogenic potential, and the expression of tissue-specific genes were
assessed by means of MTT assay, FE-SEM, alizarin red S staining, and RT-PCR analysis. hDPSCs exhibited improved
adhesion and proliferation capacity on the PLLA-PCL-HA nanofibers treated with MSH compared to other groups (p<0.05).
Additionally, PLLA-PCL-HA nanofibers treated with MSH exhibited significantly higher mineralization and alkaline
phosphatase activity than other groups. RT-PCR results confirmed that PLLA-PCL-HA nanofibers enriched with MSH could
significantly unregulated the gene expression of BMP2, osteocalcin, RUNX2 and DSPP that correlated to osteogenic
differentiation (p<0.05). Based on results, incorporation of HA nanoparticles in PLLA-PCL nanofibers and addition of MSH
in media exhibited synergistic effects on the adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenesis differentiation of hDPSCs, and
therefore assumed to be a favorable scaffold for bone tissue engineering applications. |