Abstract
Bone is a vascularized organic-inorganic composite tissue that shows a heavily-mineralized extracellular matrix (ECM) on the nanoscale. Herein, the nucleation of calcium phosphates during the biomineralization process was mimicked using negatively-charged cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). These mineralized-CNCs were combined with platelet lysate to produce nanocomposite scaffolds through cryogelation to mimic bone ECM protein-mineral composite nature and take advantage of the bioactivity steaming from platelet-derived biomolecules. The nanocomposite scaffolds showed high microporosity (94-95%), high elasticity (recover from 75% strain cycles), injectability, and modulated platelet-derived growth factors sequestration and release. Furthermore, they increased alkaline phosphatase activity (up to 10-fold) and up-regulated the expression of bone-related markers (up to 2-fold), without osteogenic supplementation, demonstrating their osteoinductive properties. Also, the scaffolds promoted the chemotaxis of endothelial cells and enhanced the expression of endothelial markers, showing proangiogenic potential. These results suggest that the mineralized nanocomposite scaffolds can enhance bone regeneration by simultaneously promoting osteogenesis and angiogenesis.