A new paradigm of bone active risedronate-functionalized polycaprolactone/gelatin scaffold synergistically promotes osteogenic differentiation in rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells for bone tissue engineering

Modern developments in bone tissue engineering focus on designing biomimetic materials that exhibit suitable mechanical and physiochemical properties. In this study, we present the development of a new biomaterial scaffold using a newly constructed polymer that contains bisphosphonate in combination with gelatin (GAT). To achieve scaffolding, a chemical grafting technique was used to develop risedronate (RS)-functionalized polycaprolactone (PCL-RS). The freeze-casting process was used to construct the porous PCL-RS/GAT scaffold after incorporating gelatin into the PCL-RS polymer solution. A scaffold with pores that are in perfect position and a porosity of 81.84% was successfully acquired. The biodegradability assessment, 48% of its early weight was lost after five weeks. The PCL-RS/GAT scaffold exhibited an elastic modulus of 32.01 MPa and a tensile strength of 3.9 MPa. The MTT analysis showed the PCL-RS/GAT favorable cytocompatibility with rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC). In addition, the cells cultured in the PCL-RS/GAT scaffold exhibited the greatest ALP activity and mineralization. The RT-PCR test results indicated that the PCL-RS/GAT scaffold had a high RUNX2, COL 1A1, and OCN gene expression, suggesting a strong osteoinductive capacity. The results indicate that the PCL-RS/GAT scaffold is a suitable biomimetic platform for tissue engineering in bone.