Description
We have synthesized methacrylate-endcapped caprolactone networks with tailored
water sorption ability, poly(CLMA-co-HEA), in the form of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds
with the same architecture but exhibiting different hydrophilicity character (xHEA50, 0.3, 0.5),
and we investigated the interaction of goat bone marrow stromal cells (GBMSCs) with such
structures. For this purpose, GBMSCs were seeded and cultured for 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days
onto the developed scaffolds. Cells have proliferated throughout the whole scaffold volume.
Cell adhesion and morphology were analyzed by SEM, whereas cell viability and proliferation
was assessed by MTS test and DNA quantification concluding that numbers of cells increased
as a function of the culturing time (until day 14) and also with the hydrophobic content in the
samples (from 50 to 100% of CLMA). No significant difference between samples with 100%
and 70% of CLMA were detected in some cases. Osteoblastic differentiation was followed by
assessing the alkaline phosphatase activity of cells, as well as type I collagen and osteocalcin
expressions levels until day 21. The three markers were positive at days 14 and 21 when cells
were cultured in 100% CLMA substrates which suggests osteoblastic differentiation of
mesenchymal stem cells within these scaffolds. On the other hand, when the CLMA content
decreases (until 50%), type I collagen and osteocalcin were positive but ALP was negative
indicating that the differentiation process is affected by hydrophilic content. We suggest that
such system may be useful to extract information on the effect of materials’ wettability on the
corresponding biological performance in a 3D environment. Such general insights may be
relevant in the context of biomaterials selection for tissue engineering strategies.
; Salmerón-Sánchez, M. 
