AMNIOTIC MEMBRANE DERIVED CELLS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF SCAFFOLD BIOCOMPATIBILITY

New technologies in orthopedic and maxillofacial surgery are generating an increasing demand of biomaterials capable of supportingosteoregenerative processes. The scaffold biocompatibility results from a number of factors such as chemical composition, physicalstructure and architecture that condition its ability to host cells and support their proliferation and osteogenic differentiation. Thisresearch evaluates biomaterial properties by analyzing the behavior of amnion derived stem cells seeded on the scaffold and culturedunder osteogenic culture conditions. 5 scaffolds of different composition and structural architecture were assessed: carbon fibres,biphasic HA-CaP, natural coral, PLGA and titanium discs with smooth and rough surfaces. After seeding the cells were cultured inosteogenic medium for 7-14 days. At the end of the culture cell viability was assessed by CFDA/ propidium staining, cell proliferationby immunodetection of Ki67 and osteogenic differentiation by analyzing calcein deposition in the extracellular matrix. Cell viabilitywas higher in titanium scaffolds and natural coral (> 85%) than in the remaining biomaterials. However coral scaffold showed fewdispersed spotted areas where nearly all the cells were death. Cell proliferation was also markedly affected by the biomaterial, highervalues were recorded in natural coral scaffold (35%) and titanium (23%) while cell proliferation was lower in HA-collagen andbiphasic HA-CaP (< 5%). Osteogenic differentiation was influenced by both scaffold composition and structure. Calcein depositionwas only detectable in HA-collagen while it markedly increased in biphasic HA-CaP and was massive in coral scaffold. Interestinglycell differentiation on titanium discs was clearly influenced by the surface structure showing a positive relation between surfaceroughness and osteogenic differentiation. The present data demonstrate that amnion derived stem cells can be used to reveal functionalproperties of the scaffolds that would not be predictable on the basis of their chemical-physical properties.[...]