Synergetic effect of chemical and topological signals of gingival regeneration scaffold on the behavior of human gingival fibroblasts.

Achievement of gingiva regeneration poses a substantial challenge for dental aesthetics and periodontal disease repair, but reports of a bioactive and easily available gingival regeneration scaffold are rare. Cell behaviors can be affected by multiple kinds of bioactive signals; thus, it is important to explore the effects of the chemical and topological signals of the scaffold on the behavior of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs). We hypothesized that the synergetic effect of the chemical and topological scaffold signals were beneficial to gingival regeneration. In this study, HGF behavior on random/aligned poly (e-caprolactone) (PCL) and polydopamine (PDA)-coated PCL electrospun scaffolds was investigated in a common medium and in basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) medium. The results showed that the synergistic effect of three signals was better than that of one or two signals. The cell proliferation of the aligned scaffold group was higher than that of the random scaffold, and the PCL/PDA-Aligned+bFGF group showed the highest cell proliferation. Even if two chemical signals were present, the HGFs still maintained an ordered distribution on the aligned scaffold. Cell differentiation and protein secretion analysis indicated that gene and protein expression of focal adhesion kinase and fibronectin were the highest in the PCL/PDA-Aligned+bFGF group. Taken together, the chemical and topographic signals within the electrospun scaffold were considered to display a synergistic effect on HGF behaviors, suggesting the potential usefulness of the PCL/PDA-Aligned+bFGF scaffold for gingiva tissue engineering.