Control of osteogenic differentiation and mineralization of human mesenchymal stem cells on composite nanofibers containing poly[lactic-co-(glycolic acid)] and hydroxyapatite.

We fabricated composite fibrous scaffolds from blends of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and nano-sized hydroxyapatite (HA) via electrospinning. SEM-EDX and AFM analysis demonstrated that HA was homogeneously dispersed in the nanofibers, and the roughness increased along with the amount of incorporated HA. When hMSCs were cultured on these PLGA/HA composite nanofibers, we found that incorporation of HA on the nanofibers did not affect cell viability whereas increased ALP activity and expression of osteogenic genes as well as the calcium mineralization of hMSCs. Our results indicate that the composite nanofibers can be offered as a potential bone regenerative biomaterial for stem cell based therapies.