Evaluation of Biocompatibility of PLA Scaffold Coated with Laponite on Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Bone tissue engineering is a promising approach to develop new appropriate treatments for bone tissue damage. One of the important goals in this field is to fabricate the scaffolds by mimicking the extracellular matrix. The aim of this study was to study the fabrication of polylactic acid/Laponite (PLA/LAP) scaffold and to investigate the behavior of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) on it. First, PLA scaffold was fabricated by electrospinning technique, and then LAP (0.8 wt%) was coated on it. The morphology of the scaffold was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The chemical structure of the scaffold was evaluated by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and its hydrophilicity was tested by measuring the water contact angle. Finally, the biocompatibility of the scaffold and cell viability tested with MTT assay was performed on hBMSCs. The results of scaffold morphology showed a successful coat of LAP 0.8% on the surface of PLA scaffold. Furthermore, the hydrophilicity of PLA scaffold improved after coating with LAP 0.8%. The Biocompatibility of scaffold up to 24 hours and hMSCs viability up to 72 hours after cell culture were confirmed (p≤0.001). Based on the results of this study, it seems that PLA/LAP of 0.8% scaffold can be a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering applications by maintaining biocompatibility and cell viability due to the presence of ions in LAP nanoparticles.