Multiple factor interactions in biomimetic mineralization of electrospun scaffolds

One of the major limitations in scaffold-based bone tissue engineering has been the inability to increase the loading of biologically active inorganic mineral. The present study introduces a novel two step strategy to increase overall mineral content of electrospun scaffolds and employs multiple factor interaction as a statistic to identify the combination of factors that yields maximal scaffold mineralization. Different amounts of nHA (0, 10, 25 and 50% by wt. of polymer) were electrospun in combination with polydioxanone (PDO) or poly(glycolide: lactide) to generate composite scaffolds. Successful incorporation of nHA within, on and in between nanofibers was confirmed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. These scaffolds were immersed in different types (conventional, revised, ionic and modified) of simulated body fluid (SBF), prepared at 1x and 4x concentrations and the incubation was carried out either in static or dynamic setting at biomimetic conditions. At 2 weeks, the total amount of mineral within the scaffold was quantified using a modified Alizarin Red-based assay. Each of the five independent factors was analyzed independently and tested for interaction using random effects ANOVA. Statistics revealed significant higher order interactions among factors and the combination of PDO containing 50% nHA incubated in I x revised SBF resulted in maximum mineralization. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.