A Novel Collagen/Hydroxyapatite/Microcrystalline Cellulose Composite For Bone Tissue Engineering

In this paper, collagen was extracted from landrace pig skin by combination ofacid method and enzyme method. Collagen extracted by enzyme method has acomplete three-helix structure as well as acid method. Both the two methods alsohave such advantages as environmental friendly and non-antigenic. Results ofSodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE) andFourier Transform Infrared Spectroscope(FTIR) showed that the resultant collagenwas typeⅠcollagen with a complete three-helix structure.By biomimetic mineralization method, collagen-hydroxyapatite(CHA) wasprepared. The mophology of collagen-hydroxyapatite composite was analogous tonature bone. Dehydrothermal treatment(DHT) was used to improve the interfacialproperties of collagen-hydroxyapatite. To improve the mechanical property anddegradability, a novel composite with collagen-hydroxyapatite and microcrystallinecellulose(MCC) was fabricated by sonication dispersion, blending, freeze-drying andcold isostatic compaction technique besides biomimetic mineralization method.Fourier transform infrared spectroscope(FTIR), ultraviolet&visiblespectrophotometer(UV), scanning electron microscope(SEM), and X-ray diffraction(XRD) were employed to analyze and compare the structure and composition of theresultant composite. Hydrophilicity, swelling property, mechanical property anddegradability of this novel composite were investigated. It was found that this novelcomposite is hydrophilic and has swelling property. When degrading40days, itkeeped its basic shape. Moreover, the compressive strength of composite,99.05±1.74MPa, reached to the standards of artificial bone materials and was superior to someexisting artificial bone materials. This work may provide an efficient and alternativeapproach to bone tissue engineering and clinical medicine with this novelcollagen-hydroxyapatite-microcrystalline cellulose material.