Preparation and in vitro evaluation of polycaprolactone/PEG/bioactive glass nanopowders nanocomposite membranes for GTR/GBR applications

Highlights: • Membranes based on PCL/PEG/BGs nanopowders were fabricated by solvent casting method. • BGs nanopowders (45SBG and Cu45SBG) were used as an osteogenic component regarding the improvement of bone tissue formation. • The results indicated that applying 3 wt% Cu45SBG could induce cytotoxic effect on ADSCs. • The results confirmed that prepared PCL/PEG/7 wt% 45SBG nanopowders would be appropriate candidate for GTR/GBR applications. - Abstract: In the present study, nanocomposite membranes are investigated using poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and bioactive glass nanopowders (BGs) synthesized via solvent casting method with different reinforcement rates of BGs consisting of 3, 5 and 7 wt% for regenerating the periodontal tissue in vitro. These prepared membranes were evaluated by a vast range of essential tests; including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmition-electron microscopy (TEM), tensile testing before and after soaking in PBS solution, degradation and contact angle assessments as well as cell culture assays. In spite of the fact that the percentage of Cu incorporated into BGs was trivial, this negligible amount exerted major cytotoxic impact upon cells during in vitro cell tests. According to the results, the blended-membrane contained 7 wt% copper-free BGs indicated optimum characteristics including satisfactory mechanical and biodegradation features, more wettable surface, higher proliferation rates of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), superior ALP activity and brilliant bone mineralization capacity which was confirmed by Alizarin red assay. As a consequence, it can be used as a desirable candidate for guided tissue/bone regeneration (GTR/GBR) to accelerate bone tissue healing.