Preparation of Nanocomposite Gelatin/Apatite Scaffold through a Biomimetic Method

During past decade, using biomimetic approaches has received much attention by scientists in the field of tissue substitutes preparation. These approaches have been employed for synthesis of bone tissue engineering scaffolds in the case of either materials or synthesis methods. In this study, an apatite phase has been synthesized within gelatin hydrogel in biomimetic condition. The obtained composite hydrogel has changed to a porous scaffold with the application of freeze drying technique in order to be used in bone tissue engineering. To characterize the chemical composition and crystal structure of the synthesized precipitate within hydrogel, FTIR, XRD and TEM analysis were used. Surface morphology and porous structure of the scaffold were studied with SEM. SEM analysis was also used to investigate the quality of cultured osteoblast cells activity. Results approved formation of an apatite phase within gelatin hydrogel in biomimetic condition with crystallite size ranging between 7-10 nm. Porosity percentage of the obtained nanocomposite scaffold was about 82% with pores sizes in the range of 100-350μm. Young’s elastic modulus of the scaffold was comparable with that of the spongy bone. The osteoblast cells cultured on the scaffold showed adhesion, immigration and extracellular matrix excretion on the scaffold internal surfaces. Thus, obtained results indicated the potential ability of the prepared biomimetic bone tissue engineering scaffold to be used in bone tissue repair process.