| Abstract Scope |
O2-delivering tissue substitutes have shown tremendous potential for enhancing tissue regeneration, maturation, and healing. We report the design and fabrication of 3D-printed, O2-generating bone scaffold comprising calcium peroxide (CPO) that provides long-term generation of O2 at a controlled manner, and PCL, a hydrophobic polymer that regulate the interaction of CPO with water, preventing burst release at early time points. CPO-PCL scaffolds maintained the survival of hASCs relative to controls at anoxia. Without exogenous osteoinductive factors, hASC-seeded CPO-PCL scaffolds demonstrated increased new bone volume compared to control in a mice critical-sized calvarial defects. Lastly, we employed a 3D lightsheet microscopy platform to determine that O2-generating scaffolds had higher vascular volumes with higher presence of type H vessels and increased number of skeletal progenitor cells relative to PCL scaffolds. In summary, 3D-printed O2 generating CPO-PCL scaffolds with tunable O2 release rates provide a facile, customizable strategy for effectively treating, craniofacial bone defects. |