Bioactive nanocomposite PLDL/nano-hydroxyapatite electrospun membranes for bone tissue engineering

New nanocomposite membranes with high bioactivity were fabricated using the electrospinning. These nanocomposites combine a degradable polymer poly(l/dl)-lactide and bone cell signaling carbonate nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HAp). Chemical and physical characterization of the membranes using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the wide angle X-ray diffraction evidenced that nanoparticles were successfully incorporated into the fibers and membrane structure. The incorporation of the n-HAp into the structure increased significantly the mineralization of the membrane in vitro. It has been demonstrated that after a 3-day incubation of composite membrane in the Simulated Body Fluid a continuous compact apatite layer was formed. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the incorporation of n-HAp significantly improved cell attachment, upregulated cells proliferation and stimulated cell differentiation quantified using Alkaline Phosphatase and OsteoImage tests. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that the addition of n-HAp provided chemical cues that were a key factor that regulated osteoblastic differentiation.