Non-rigid and tough calcium phosphate cement scaffold seeded with umbilical cord stem cell for bone repair

Published

August 1, 2013

Author(s)

Carl G. Simon Jr., Hockin H. Xu, Michael D. Weir, WahWah Thein-Han

Abstract

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) are a promising alternative to bone marrow MSCs, which require invasive procedures to harvest. The objectives of this study were to develop a novel non-rigid and tough calcium phosphate cement (CPC), and to investigate hUCMSC proliferation, osteodifferentiation and mineralization on non-rigid CPC for the first time. Non-rigid CPC scaffold was fabricated using extra tetracalcium phosphate in the CPC powder, chitosan, absorbable fibers and alginate microbeads. The non-rigid CPC-microbead scaffold possessed a strain-at-failure of 10.7%, higher than conventional CPC’s strain of 0.05%, which is typical for brittle bioceramics. The flexural strength of non-rigid CPC-microbead scaffold was 4-fold that of rigid CPC-mircobead scaffold. Work-of-fracture (toughness) was increased by 20-fold. The non-rigid CPC-microbead-fiber scaffold matched the strength of cancellous bone. hUCMSCs on non-rigid CPC increased from about 100 cells/mm2 at 1 d, to 600 cells/mm2 at 8 d. Alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and collagen gene expressions of hUCMSCs were greatly increased, and the cells successfully synthesized bone minerals. hUCMSCs on non-rigid CPC-microbead-fiber construct had higher bone marker expressions and more mineralization than those on rigid CPC. Non-rigid CPC could potentially provide compliance for micro-motions within the tissues, with load-supporting strength for periodontal bone repair, spinal fusion and other repairs. In conclusion, this study developed the first non-rigid, self-setting calcium phosphate-microbead scaffold with a strain-at-failure exceeding 10%. hUCMSCs showed excellent proliferation, osteodifferentiation, and mineral synthesis on non-rigid CPC scaffolds. The hUCMSC-CPC construct with excellent cell proliferation, osteodifferentiation and mineral synthesis is promising for bone regeneration.

Citation

Biomaterials

Volume

1

Issue

1

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Calcium phosphate cement, non-rigid scaffold, human umbilical cord stem cells, osteogenic differentiation, bone tissue engineering

Citation

Simon, C. , Xu, H. , Weir, M. and Thein-Han, W. (2013), Non-rigid and tough calcium phosphate cement scaffold seeded with umbilical cord stem cell for bone repair, Biomaterials, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=907572 (Accessed October 12, 2025)