Fabrication of 3D melt electrowritting multiphasic scaffold with bioactive and osteoconductivite functionalities for periodontal regeneration

This work aimed to design a multifunctional biphasic 3D scaffold for periodontal tissue regeneration. A 3D fibrous scaffold made from medical-grade poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with high porosity (>90%) and well-oriented fibres was fabricated by a custom design melt electrowriting (MEW) device. A biomimetic process was employed to form a bioactive calcium phosphate (CaP) layer with nanostructure (nanoflakes-like) morphology onto the 3D MEW fibrous surface to stimulate rapid bone formation. Primary human osteoblasts (hOBs) were seeded within the coated 3D fibrous scaffolds for 28 days to acquire the bone compartment of the tissue-engineered construct (TEC). The biphasic construct was obtained by placing an established in vitro periodontal ligament (PDL) cell sheet onto the surface of the bone compartment. Subsequently, a decellularized multiphasic TEC by exploiting a lyophilization approach was obtained. Laser scanning confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the retention of a functional extracellular matrix within the PDL and bone compartments following scaffold decellularization and lyophilization processes. These findings suggest that lyophilized decellularized biphasic 3D constructs with high porosity constitute a viable ‘off the shelf’ strategy for developing an extracellular matrix-based product to facilitate periodontal regeneration.