Multipotent Mesenchymal Cells Homing and Differentiation on Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blended with 20% Tricalcium Phosphate and Polylactic Acid Incorporating 10% Hydroxyapatite 3D-Printed Scaffolds via a Commercial Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Device

Simple Summary As highlighted by the 'Global Burden of Disease Study 2019' conducted by the World Health Organization, ensuring fair access to medical care through affordable and targeted treatments remains crucial for an ethical global healthcare system. Versatile polymers show promise, particularly in 3D printing, aiming to reduce costs and enhance healthcare accessibility, such as meeting dentistry's demand for standardized osteoconductive products. It is essential to bridge biomaterial innovation with commercial printing technology. Our study emphasizes the metabolic behavior and lineage commitment of bone marrow-derived cells on two types of substrates: poly(epsilon-caprolactone) + 20% tricalcium phosphate (PCL + 20% beta-TCP) and L-polylactic acid + 10% hydroxyapatite (PLLA + 10% HA). Despite the limitations of these polymers, these biomaterials effectively promoted osteoinductivity. Both substrates proved optimal for the commitment of bone marrow-derived multipotent mesenchymal cells (MSCs) to mature bone cells across different temporal sequences.Abstract As highlighted by the 'Global Burden of Disease Study 2019' conducted by the World Health Organization, ensuring fair access to medical care through affordable and targeted treatments remains crucial for an ethical global healthcare system. Given the escalating demand for advanced and urgently needed solutions in regenerative bone procedures, the critical role of biopolymers emerges as a paramount necessity, offering a groundbreaking avenue to address pressing medical needs and revolutionize the landscape of bone regeneration therapies. Polymers emerge as excellent solutions due to their versatility, making them reliable materials for 3D printing. The development and widespread adoption of this technology would impact production costs and enhance access to related healthcare services. For instance, in dentistry, the use of commercial polymers blended with beta-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) is driven by the need to print a standardized product with osteoconductive features. However, modernization is required to bridge the gap between biomaterial innovation and the ability to print them through commercial printing devices. Here we showed, for the first time, the metabolic behavior and the lineage commitment of bone marrow-derived multipotent mesenchymal cells (MSCs) on the 3D-printed substrates poly(e-caprolactone) combined with 20% tricalcium phosphate (PCL + 20% beta-TCP) and L-polylactic acid (PLLA) combined with 10% hydroxyapatite (PLLA + 10% HA). Although there are limitations in printing additive-enriched polymers with a predictable and short half-life, the tested 3D-printed biomaterials were highly efficient in supporting osteoinductivity. Indeed, considering different temporal sequences, both 3D-printed biomaterials resulted as optimal scaffolds for MSCs' commitment toward mature bone cells. Of interest, PLLA + 10% HA substrates hold the confirmation as the finest material for osteoinduction of MSCs.