Polycaprolactone-laponite composite scaffold releasing strontium ranelate for bone tissue engineering applications

• A scaffold containing dual osteoinductive factors laponite and strontium ranelate.
• Complex of strontium ranelate with laponite through electrostatic interaction.
• Optimum composition of the scaffold with 3 wt% complex for bone tissue engineering.

We report polycaprolactone-laponite composite scaffold for the controlled release of strontium ranelate (SRA), a drug for osteoporosis. Laponite-SRA complex with electrostatic interaction between the drug and laponite was obtained through an aqueous phase reaction. Structural evaluation verified complexation of the bulky SRA molecules with the negatively charged laponite tactoid surfaces, leading to extended ordering of the tactoids, leaving behind the interlayer spacing of the laponite unchanged. The laponite-SRA complex was solution blended with polycaprolactone to obtain composite scaffolds. The strategy was found improving the dispersibility of laponite in PCL due to partial organomodification imparted through interaction with the SRA. The composite scaffolds with varying laponite-SRA complex content of 3–12 wt% were evaluated in vitro using human osteosarcoma cells. It was confirmed that an optimum composition of the scaffold with 3 wt% laponite-SRA complex loading would be ideal for obtaining enhanced ALP activity, by maintaining cell viability.

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