in vitro and in vivo evaluation of reduced graphene oxide-collagen scaffold on bone repair

Aim and background: new tissue engineered structures are required in order to overcome the current shortcomings in the bone regeneration and orthopedic fields. for this purpose, the usage of nanoparticles in combination with natural biomaterials could provide scaffolds that are biologically and mechanically bone mimicking. methods: in this study, two scaffolds (namely, collagen (col) and reduced graphene oxide coated collagen (col-rgo)) were synthesized by chemical crosslinking and freeze-drying methods. then, the physicochemical characterization methods (fesem, ft-ir and raman) were used to evaluate the scaffolds. cellular studies were performed to evaluate the cytotoxicity and morphology of the human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hbmscs). scaffolds were also implanted into rabbit craniofacial bone defects to assess their potential for bone formation during 12 weeks. results and discussion: three-dimensional porous scaffolds were successfully synthesized. mechanical strength of col-rgo scaffolds increased 2.8 folds in comparison with col group. enhanced cellular behaviours, including viability, proliferation, adhesion and expansion, were also shown on col-rgo scaffolds compared to that of col counterparts. hematoxylin-eosin (h&e) and alizarin red staining showed no necrosis or inflammation after 12 weeks for either groups. increased new osteogenesis, cell migration and mineralization were observed by implanted col-rgo scaffolds which confirmed that rgo coating could recover col scaffold properties for bone tissue applications.