Synthesized bioactive lignin nanoparticles/polycaprolactone nanofibers: A novel nanobiocomposite for bone tissue engineering

The use of artificial biomaterial with enhanced bioactivity for osteostimulation is a major research concern at present days. In this research, antibacterial and osteostimulative core-shell lignin nanoparticles (LgNP) were synthesized from alkali lignin using tetrahydrofuran (THF) as solvent via a simultaneous pH and solvent shifting technology. Later, LgNP-loaded polycaprolactone (PCL) composite nanofibers were fabricated via the electrospinning technique. The addition of LgNP significantly increased the diameter of the nanofibers, ranging from 400 to 2200 nm. The addition of LgNP reduced the mechanical performance, crystallinity, and porosity of the nanofibers while improving surface wetting and swelling properties of the inherently hydrophobic PCL polymer. The prepared nanofibers showed excellent bactericidal efficacy against major bone infectious Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strains. The incorporation of LgNP imparted superior antioxidant activity and boosted the biodegradation process of the nanofibers. The deposition of biomineral apatite with platelet-like clustered protrusions having a Ca/P ratio of 1.67 was observed while incubating the scaffold in simulated body fluid. Based on the results of the LDH and WST-1 assay, it was demonstrated that the composite nanofibers are non-toxic to pre-osteoblastic cell line (MC3T3-E1) when they are placed in direct contact with the LgNP/PCL scaffold nanofibers. The MC3T3-E1 cells exhibited excellent proliferation and attachment on the prepared composite scaffold via filopodial and lamellipodial expansion with cell-secreted Ca deposition. According to the alkaline phosphatase activity test, LgNP/PCL nanofiber scaffolds significantly improved osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells compared to neat PCL nanofibers. Overall, our findings suggest that LgNP/PCL nanofiber scaffold could be a promising functional biomaterial for bone tissue engineering.