Periodontal ligament cells cultured on the tricalcium phosphate/chitosan scaffolds in vivo and in vitro

To search suitable scaffolds for periodontal tissue regeneration, different ratios of tricalcium phosphate/chitosan(TCP/chitosan) scaffolds were prepared through a freeze-drying process. Human periodontal ligament cells(HPLCs) were incubated on the scaffolds in vitro. Cells were cultured on the scaffolds, detected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). HPLCs were analyzed by MTT assay and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activity detection. HPLCs were seeded onto the scaffolds. Then these scaffolds with HPLCs were implanted subcutaneously into athymic mice. The state of periodontal tissue regeneration was detected after 4 weeks. As the ratio of TCP increased, TCP/chitosan scaffolds accelerated HPLCs proliferation significantly higher than the pure chitosan scaffold. HPLCs produced the cementoid tissue in vivo. The periodontal tissue regeneration engineering is able to be applied with TCP/chitosan scaffolds.