@article {15681,
	title = {Optimized electro- and wet-spinning techniques for the production of polymeric fibrous scaffolds loaded with bisphosphonate and hydroxyapatite},
	journal = {Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine},
	volume = {5},
	year = {2011},
	month = {2011-04-01 00:00:00},
	pages = {253-263},
	publisher = {WILEY-BLACKWELL},
	abstract = {<p><span>This research activity was aimed at the development of composite bioactive scaffolds made of biodegradable three-arm branched-star poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (*PCL), hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HNPs) and clodronate (CD), a bisphosphonate that has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of various bone diseases and as an anti-inflammatory drug. During the experimental work, the processing conditions for the fabrication of fibrous meshes, by either electrospinning or wet-spinning, were optimized. Stemming from a previous research activity on electrospinning of *PCL, *PCL/HNPs 3D meshes were developed, evaluating the influence of fabrication parameters on the fibres{\textquoteright} morphology. By exploiting the binding affinity of bisphosphonates for hydroxyapatite, a methodology was set up for obtaining a physical linkage between CD and HNPs, with the aim of having a dual bioactive system loaded into *PCL fibrous mats. Fibres loaded with either CD or CD-HNP particles were thus produced and analysed by scanning electron microscopy for their morphology and by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy for their elemental composition. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley \&amp; Sons, Ltd.</span></p>},
	keywords = {bisphosphonates, Electrospinning, scaffolds, star polymers, Tissue engineering, wet-spinning},
	issn = {1932-6254},
	doi = {10.1002/term.310},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/term.310/abstract},
	author = {Puppi, D. and Piras, A. M. and Chiellini, F. and Chiellini, E. and Martins, A. and Leonor, I. B. and Neves, N. M. and Reis, R. L.}
}
