| Tissue engineering has tried for decades to introduce scaffolds to replace the body’s natural ECM, to replace
damaged tissues that cannot be repaired or treated by conventional methods. In the present study, an attempt has
been made to use human placental extract (PE) as a natural material to modify and simulate an electrospun
Polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold to the natural ECM. PCL and PCL-PE nanofibers were characterized morphologically, and their non-toxicity was also investigated. After that, their osteo-supportive capacities were also
investigated by culture of the Wharton’s jelly (WJ) derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on the scaffolds. SEM
results demonstrated that PCL and PCL-PE scaffolds were fibrous with nanometer size, bead free and smooth, and
these characteristics were not changed significantly while PCL nanofibers coated with PE. In addition, SEM
results were also confirmed these scaffold’s non-toxicity when WJ-MSCs properly attached, proliferated and
expanded on the surface of scaffolds. Osteo-supportive capacity of the PCL and PCL-PE scaffolds was investigated
via ALP activity, calcium content and bone-related gene expression in the WJ-MSCs when grown on the PCL and
PCL-PE scaffolds and TCPS and TCPS-PE as controls. The results demonstrated that all bone related markers were
significantly increased at the presence of the PE. In addition, this increase was significantly enhanced when PE
combined with PCL nanofiber structure. According to the results, PCL-PE nanofibrous scaffold showed that it has
a very high ability to support bone differentiation and can be introduced as a suitable candidate for use in bone
tissue engineering. |