A bioactive collagen-β tricalcium phosphate scaffold for tissue engineering

Collagen-phosphate composites (COL/beta-TCP) are novel materials that have the potential to be used as bone analogues. The aim of our study was to develop a porous bioactive material composed of type I collagen, the main bone protein and tricalcium phosphate, the mineral phase of natural bone, and investigate their in vitro biocompatibility in a human dermal fibroblast culture system. In order to obtain the bioactive materials, type I collagen was isolated from bovine tendon and characterized by physicochemical methods. beta-TCP was obtained from calcium carbonate by thermal decomposition at 900 degrees C temperature. The powder was examined with X-ray diffraction. Two variants of COL/beta-TCP scaffolds (P1 and P2) were prepared and examined by scanning electron microscopy. Our results revealed a microporous structure with small white aggregates of beta-TCP, non-homogenous scattered in the collagen framework without any preferential orientation. The biocompatibility of the obtained sca. olds was tested by biochemical and histological methods on human fibroblast cultures. Both materials acted as good subtrates for human dermal fibroblast proliferation and migration. (C) Central European Science Journals Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights reserved.