The advancement in the arena of bone tissue engineering persuades us to develop novel nanocomposite scaffolds in order to improve antibacterial, osteogenic, and angiogenic properties that show resemblance to natural bone extracellular matrix. Here, we focused on the development of novel zinc-doped hydroxyapatite (ZnHAP) nanoparticles (1, 2 and 3 wt%; size: 50-60 nm) incorporated chitosan-gelatin nanocomposite scaffold, with an interconnected porous structure. The addition of ZnHAP nanoparticles decreases the pore size (~30 µm) of the chitosan gelatin scaffold. It was observed that with the increase in the concentration of ZnHAP nanoparticles (3 wt%) in CG scaffolds, the swelling ratio (1374%), porosity (68%) and degradation rate (35%) decreased, whereas mechanical property (1 MPa) increased. The deposition of apatite crystals due to the incorporation of ZnHAP nanoparticles on CG scaffolds revealed the excellent osteoconductive potential of the nanocomposite scaffolds. MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells seeded with CG-ZnHAP nanocomposite scaffolds depicted better cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation to osteogenic lineages. Finally, the CAM assay revealed better angiogenesis supporting vascularisation. Overall, the results showed that the CG-ZnHAP3 nanocomposite scaffold could be a potential candidate for bone defect repair.
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Keywords: Angiogenesis; Biocompatibility; Chitosan; Gelatin; Zinc-doped hydroxyapatite.
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