The Effect of Different Hydroxyapatite Structures on the Cellular Behavior of Polycaprolactone/Sodium Alginate/Collagen Scaffolds to Proliferate Mesenchymal Cells

ABSTRACT This study demonstrates how a hydroxyapatite/(HaP) structure influences and determines cell viability/proliferation on electrospun hybrid polycaprolactone/sodium‐alginate/collagen scaffolds when mesenchymal cells are seeded. Four different HaPs were tested: (1) nanometric/(nHaP), (2) micrometric/(μHap), (3) functionalized/(nHaP f ), and (4) natural‐decellularized bovine condyle (NKB). Electrochemical, morphological, physicochemical, and biological assays were used to characterize the hybrid scaffolds. The NKB‐containing scaffold demonstrated not only the best adhesion and proliferation cell culture but also strong cellular unity, encouraging the formation of a stable biologic interface between the cells and the scaffold with a homogeneous distribution throughout the multilayered mats. The NKB compound, which contains different compositions, such as nitrogen, demonstrated the highest impedance during the entire testing (168 h) together with the rougher surface and the smallest crystallite size. On the contrary, the μHap‐containing scaffold showed the lowest metabolic activity among all samples with heterogeneous cell culture. The X‐ray photoelectron spectra demonstrated that the nitrogen content of the NKB significantly modified the polycaprolactone structure to form more CO/CN bonds, which increased the scaffold cellular viability. The biological assays were assessed using Ki‐67 immunostaining, resazurin and methodologies to evaluate the toxicity and adhesion properties of the scaffolds. The NKB‐scaffold promises optimal biocompatibility features for tissue restoration.