Investigation the in vitro biological performance of graphene/bioactive glass scaffolds using MC3T3-E1 and ATDC5 cells

Silicate-based bioactive glass constructs were fabricated by polymer foam replication method for tissue engineering applications. Composites were prepared by coating the surface of bioactive glass scaffolds with poly(epsilon-caprolactone) involving graphene nanopowders at different concentrations. In vitro bioactivity of the composite constructs was tested in simulated body fluid. Additionally, the response of pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 and chondrogenic ATDC5 cells were investigated under in vitro conditions. Results revealed that a decrease was not observed in acellular bioactivity of the scaffolds. Cell viability experiments showed that graphene involving samples were not cytotoxic to the MC3T3-E1 and ATDC5 cells (except for the samples containing 10 wt% graphene) and cells proliferated well on the scaffolds. Additionally, the pre-osteoblastic cells seeded onto the composite scaffolds differentiated into osteoblasts. The scaffolds prepared in this study may find applications for bone and cartilage tissue engineering in the presence of electric stimulation.