Hybrid chitosan/β-1,3-glucan matrix of bone scaffold enhances osteoblast adhesion, spreading and proliferation via promotion of serum protein adsorption.

Initial protein adsorption to the material surface is crucial for osteoblast adhesion, survival, and rapid proliferation resulting in intensive new bone formation. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that modification of a chitosan matrix of chitosan/hydroxyapatite (chit/HA) biomaterial for bone tissue engineering applications with linear β-1,3-glucan (curdlan) leads to promotion of serum protein adsorption to the resultant scaffold (chit/glu/HA) and thus in enhancement of osteoblast adhesion, spreading and proliferation. Fabricated biomaterials were pre-adsorbed with different protein solutions and then protein adsorption and osteoblast behavior on the scaffolds were compared. Moreover, surface chemical composition, wettability and surface energy of biomaterials were compared. Modification of the chitosan matrix with β-1,3-glucan introduces a greater polarpart in the resultant chitosan/β-1,3-glucan matrix presumably resulting from more OH groups within the curdlan structure. Moreover, FTIR-ATR results suggest that there might be some sort of chemical interaction between the NH group of chitosan and the OH group of β-1,3-glucan. As a consequence, the chit/glu/HA scaffold adsorbs significantly more adhesion proteins that are crucial for osteoblasts compared to the chit/HA material, providing a higher density culture of well-spread osteoblasts on its surface. Obtained results revealed that not only is chit/glu/HA biomaterial a promising scaffold for bone tissue engineering applications, but the specific polysaccharide chit/glu matrix itself is promising for use in the biomedical material field to modify various biomaterials in order to enhance osteoblast adhesion and proliferation on their surfaces.