Effect of manufacturing angle on surface characteristics and fibroblast adhesion of poly-caprolactone/hyaluronic acid scaffold for tissue engineering

Cell adhesion to surfaces plays a crucial role in tissue engineering and is influenced by surface characteristics and material properties. Hydrophilicity is an important property for scaffolds to facilitate cell adhesion and growth, but most synthetic polymers lack this property, unlike natural polymers such as gelatin, sodium alginate, and hyaluronic acid (HA). Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the manufacturing angle on the surface characteristics and fibroblast adhesion of a three-dimensional scaffold made of poly-caprolactone and HA. The scaffolds were produced using 3D printing with various angles (60-60°, 45-90°, and 30-30°) and subsequently coated with a solution containing HA, zinc nanoparticles (ZnO), and drugs. Mechanical and biological properties of the scaffolds, including swelling, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and cell viability, were evaluated, while the drug release rate was measured. Optical and scanning electron microscopes (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), and mapping were employed to conduct morphological and elemental analyses. The findings demonstrate that the manufacturing angle significantly influences the scaffold's surface characteristics and fibroblast adhesion, and surface coating can improve the scaffold's properties for tissue engineering applications. The coated scaffolds exhibited higher swelling percentage, lower degradation percentage, and a drug release rate of 27% over 10 hours, while maintaining excellent biocompatibility with 102% cell coverage.