Elaeagnus angustifolia extract-Hydroxyapatite incorporated PCL based nanofibers for bone tissue engineering

The bone defects due to trauma, inflammation and tumor are very common in clinical practice. A tissue engineering strategy involving the combination of cells, scaffolds and other bioactive agents has emerged as a new approach in bone regeneration. The scaffold serves as an initial structure to retain the cells in the defects and to support the cell growth and phenotype maintenance [1, 2]. Electrospun biocomposite nanofibers mimic the composite nature of bone as well as the nanoscale features of extracellular matrix (ECM). Elaeagnus angustifolia (E.A) is one of the medicinal herbs with antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant properties widely used in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis symptoms. For the first time, E.A-Hydroxyapatite (E.A-HA) was loaded on PCL nanofibers and studied their potential application in bone tissue engineering. Physiochemical and biological properties of these nanofibers were detected. SEM photographs showed that nanofibers had free-bead morphologies. The cell response to the E.A extract-HA loaded PCL based nanofibers was evaluated by human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). hDPSCs showed improved adhesion and proliferation capacity on the E.A-HA loaded nanofibers compare to pristine nanofiber. Alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) confirmed the nanofibrous scaffolds could induce the osteoblastic performance of hDPSCs (p<0.01). The results suggested that E.A-HA loaded with PCL based nanofibers might have potential application for bone tissue engineering.