Abstract
In this study, rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in collagen/β-TCP scaffolds up to 28 days in order to assess the effect of cell growth on the mechanical behavior of the scaffolds. Compression tests were conducted periodically by using a conventional testing machine to evaluate the elastic modulus. The cell number and ALP activity were also evaluated using a spectrophotometric plate reader. The expression of type-1 collagen and osteocalcin was examined using a real time-PCR system. It was found that the compressive modulus increased up to 28 days. The cell number and ALP activity clearly increased in proportion to the period of cell culture compared with those results of collagen scaffold. These results clearly shows that β-TCP is found to be effective to increase the elastic modulus and promote cell growth.
