New method for the fabrication of highly osteoconductive β‐1,3‐glucan/HA scaffold for bone tissue engineering: Structural, mechanical, and biological characterization

Abstract Recent studies have shown that thermal method for β‐1,3‐glucan (curdlan) gelation performed at temperature above 80°C enables fabrication of biocompatible bone scaffolds. The aim of this study was to establish new method for fabrication of β‐1,3‐glucan/hydroxyapatite (glu/HA) scaffold using ion‐exchanging dialysis for curdlan gelation that allows for the modifications of the glu/HA material with thermo‐sensitive agents like growth factors or adhesive proteins. Obtained results reveal that fabricated scaffold appears to be highly osteoconductive as it is nontoxic, promotes osteoblast growth and proliferation as well as increases bone alkaline phosphatase level thereby enhancing cell differentiation. It was demonstrated that developed new method for the glu/HA scaffold fabrication allows to obtain material that not only can be modified with thermo‐sensitive agents at the stage of production process but also is a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering applications to act as a framework for osteoblasts to spread and form new bone. It should be noted that dialysis method for curdlan gelation has never been used before to fabricate bone scaffold. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 2528–2536, 2016.