Fabrication and characterization of novel polyhydroxybutyrate-keratin/nanohydroxyapatite electrospun fibers for bone tissue engineering applications

Abstract

The role of scaffolds in bone regeneration is of great importance. Here, the electrospun scaffolds of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate)-keratin (PHB-K)/nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) with different morphologies (long nanorods (HAR) and very short nanorods (HAP)) and weight percentages (up to 10 w/w) of nHA were fabricated and characterized. The fibers integrity, the porosity of above 80, and increase in pore size up to 16 mu m were observed by adding nHA. The nanofibers crystallinity increased by 13.5 and 22.8 after the addition of HAR and HAP, respectively. The scaffolds contact angle decreased by almost 20 and 40 after adding 2.5 w/w HAR and HAP, respectively. The tensile strength of the scaffolds increased from 2.99 +/- 0.3 MPa for PHB-K to 6.44 +/- 0.16 and 9.27 & PLUSMN; 0.04 MPa for the scaffolds containing 2.5 w/w HAR and HAP, respectively. After immersing the scaffolds into simulated body fluid (SBF), the Ca concentration decreased by 55 for HAR-and 73 for HAP -containing scaffolds, showing the bioactivity of nHA-containing scaffolds. The results of cell attachment, pro-liferation, and viability of MG-63 cells cultured on the nanocomposites showed the positive effects of nHA. The results indicate that the nanocomposite scaffolds, especially HAP-containing ones, can be suitable for bone tissue engineering applications.