Nanoscale scaffolds that characterize high bioactivity and the ability to deliver biomolecules provide a 3D microenvironment that controls and stimulates desired cellular responses and subsequent tissue reaction. Herein novel nanofibrous hybrid scaffolds of polycaprolactone shelled with mesoporous silica (PCL@MS) were developed. In this hybrid system, the silica shell provides an active biointerface, while the 3D nanoscale fibrous structure provides cell-stimulating matrix cues suitable for bone regeneration. The electrospun PCL nanofibers were coated with MS at controlled thicknesses via a sol-gel approach. The MS shell improved surface wettability and ionic reactions, involving substantial formation of bone-like mineral apatite in body-simulated medium. The MS-layered hybrid nanofibers showed a significant improvement in mechanical properties, in terms of both tensile strength and elastic modulus, as well as in nanomechanical surface behavior, which is favorable for hard tissue repair. Attachment, growth, and proliferation of rat mesenchymal stem cells were significantly improved on the hybrid scaffolds, and their osteogenic differentiation and subsequent mineralization were highly up-regulated by the hybrid scaffolds. Furthermore, the mesoporous surface of the hybrid scaffolds enabled the loading of a series of bioactive molecules, including small drugs and proteins at high levels. The release of these molecules was sustainable over a long-term period, indicating the capability of the hybrid scaffolds to deliver therapeutic molecules. Taken together, the multifunctional hybrid nanofibrous scaffolds are considered to be promising therapeutic platforms for stimulating stem cells and for the repair and regeneration of bone.
Keywords: bioactive interface; bone regeneration; drug delivery; hybrid scaffolds; mesoporous surface; nanoscale matrix.