Macroporous scaffolds developed from CaSiO3 nanofibers regulating bone regeneration via controlled calcination

Multifunctional Bionic Periosteum with Ion Sustained-Release for Bone Regeneration

In this study, a novel bionic periosteum (BP)-bioactive glass fiber membrane (BGFM) is designed. The introduction of magnesium ion (Mg2+) and zinc ion (Zn2+) change the phase separation during the electrospinning (ES) jet stretching process. The fiber's pore structure transitions from connected to closed pores, resulting in a decrease in the rapid release of metal ions while also improving degradation via reducing filling quality. Additionally, the introduction of magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn) lead to the formation of negative charged tetrahedral units (MgO4 2- and ZnO4 2-) in the glass network. These units effectively trap positive charged metal ions, further inhibiting ion release. In vitro experiments reveal that the deigned bionic periosteum regulates the polarization of macrophages toward M2 type, thereby establishing a conducive immune environment for osteogenic differentiation. Bioinformatics analysis indicate that BP enhanced bone repair via the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. The slow release of metal ions from the bionic periosteum can directly enhance osteogenic differentiation and vascularization, thereby accelerating bone regeneration. Finally, the bionic periosteum exhibits remarkable capabilities in angiogenesis and osteogenesis, demonstrating its potential for bone repair in a rat calvarial defect model.

Biomimetic Scaffolds of Calcium-Based Materials for Bone Regeneration

Calcium-based materials, such as calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, and calcium silicate, have attracted significant attention in biomedical research, owing to their unique physicochemical properties and versatile applications. The distinctive characteristics of these materials, including their inherent biocompatibility and tunable structures, hold significant promise for applications in bone regeneration and tissue engineering. This review explores the biomedical applications of calcium-containing materials, particularly for bone regeneration. Their remarkable biocompatibility, tunable nanostructures, and multifaceted functionalities make them pivotal for advancing regenerative medicine, drug delivery system, and biomimetic scaffold applications. The evolving landscape of biomedical research continues to uncover new possibilities, positioning calcium-based materials as key contributors to the next generation of innovative biomaterial scaffolds.

Killing two birds with one stone: A therapeutic copper-loaded bio-patch promoted abdominal wall repair via VEGF pathway

Hernia and life-threatening intestinal obstruction often result from abdominal wall injuries, and the regeneration of abdominal wall defects is limited due to the lack of biocompatible, antibacterial and angiogenic scaffolding materials for treating injured tissues. Taking inspiration from the facile preparation of dopamine polymerization and its surface modification technology, in this study, multi-therapeutic copper element was introduced into porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) bio-patches through polydopamine (PDA) deposition, in order to regenerate abdominal wall injury. In both in vitro antibacterial assays, cytocompatibility assays and in vivo abdominal wall repair experiments, the SIS/PDA/Cu bio-patches exhibited robust antibacterial efficiency (＞99%), excellent biocompatibility to cells (＞90%), and enhanced neovascularization and improved collagen maturity compared to other commercially available patches (3.0-fold higher than the PP mesh), due to their activation of VEGF pathway. These findings indicated the bio-patch was a promising application for preventing visceral adhesion, bacterial infection, and promoting soft tissue regeneration.

Advances and Prospects in Materials for Craniofacial Bone Reconstruction

The craniofacial region is composed of 23 bones, which provide crucial function in keeping the normal position of brain and eyeballs, aesthetics of the craniofacial complex, facial movements, and visual function. Given the complex geometry and architecture, craniofacial bone defects not only affect the normal craniofacial structure but also may result in severe craniofacial dysfunction. Therefore, the exploration of rapid, precise, and effective reconstruction of craniofacial bone defects is urgent. Recently, developments in advanced bone tissue engineering bring new hope for the ideal reconstruction of the craniofacial bone defects. This report, presenting a first-time comprehensive review of recent advances of biomaterials in craniofacial bone tissue engineering, overviews the modification of traditional biomaterials and development of advanced biomaterials applying to craniofacial reconstruction. Challenges and perspectives of biomaterial development in craniofacial fields are discussed in the end.

Injectable, High Specific Surface Area Cryogel Microscaffolds Integrated with Osteoinductive Bioceramic Fibers for Enhanced Bone Regeneration

Organic-inorganic composites with high specific surface area and osteoinductivity provide a suitable microenvironment for cell ingrowth and effective ossification, which could greatly promote bone regeneration. Here, we report gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) cryogel microspheres that are reinforced with hydroxyapatite (HA) nanowires and calcium silicate (CS) nanofibers to achieve the goal. The prepared composite cryogel microspheres with open porous structure and rough surface greatly facilitate cell anchoring, simultaneously exhibiting excellent injectability. Compared to the only HA- or CS-containing counterparts, the GelMA cryogel microspheres composited with HA:CS (termed as GMHC) achieve sustained release of bioactive Ca, P, and Si elements, which are conducive to osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs). These composite microspheres can prevent from forming peralkalic conditions, which is beneficial for cell growth. After injection of cryogel microspheres into rat calvarial defects, neo-bone tissue grows into their pores, showing tight integration. The embedded bioceramic components significantly promote bone regeneration, with the GMHC achieving the best regenerative outcomes. Promisingly, porous organic-inorganic composite cryogel microspheres, with high specific surface area, biodegradability, and osteoinductivity, can act as injectable microscaffolds to repair bone defects with enhanced efficiency, which may widen the scaffold strategy for bone tissue engineering.

Recent Advances in Designing Fibrous Biomaterials for the Domain of Biomedical, Clinical, and Environmental Applications

Unique properties and potential applications of nanofibers have emerged as innovative approaches and opportunities in the biomedical, healthcare, environmental, and biosensor fields. Electrospinning and centrifugal spinning strategies have gained considerable attention among all kinds of strategies to produce nanofibers. These techniques produce nanofibers with high porosity and surface area, adequate pore architecture, and diverse chemical compositions. The extraordinary characteristics of nanofibers have unveiled new gates in nanomedicine to establish innovative fiber-based formulations for biomedical use, healthcare, and a wide range of other applications. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of nanofibers and their broad range of applications, including drug delivery, biomedical scaffolds, tissue/bone-tissue engineering, dental applications, and environmental remediation in a single place. The review begins with a brief introduction followed by potential applications of nanofibers. Finally, the future perspectives and current challenges of nanofibers are demonstrated. This review will help researchers to engineer more efficient multifunctional nanofibers with improved characteristics for their effective use in broad areas. We strongly believe this review is a reader's delight and will help in dealing with the fundamental principles and applications of nanofiber-based scaffolds. This review will assist students and a broad range of scientific communities to understand the significance of nanofibers in several domains of nanotechnology, nanomedicine, biotechnology, and environmental remediation, which will set a benchmark for further research.

Controlled magnesium ion delivery system for in situ bone tissue engineering

Magnesium cation (Mg²⁺) has been an emerging therapeutic agent for inducing vascularized bone regeneration. However, the therapeutic effects of current magnesium (Mg) -containing biomaterials are controversial due to the concentration- and stage-dependent behavior of Mg²⁺. Here, we first provide an overview of biochemical mechanism of Mg²⁺ in various concentrations and suggest that 2-10 mM Mg²⁺in vitro may be optimized. This review systematically summarizes and discusses several types of controlled Mg²⁺ delivery systems based on polymer-Mg composite scaffolds and Mg-containing hydrogels, as well as their design philosophy and several parameters that regulate Mg²⁺ release. Given that the continuous supply of Mg²⁺ may prevent biomineral deposition in the later stage of bone regeneration and maturation, we highlight the controlled delivery of Mg²⁺ based dual- or multi-ions system, especially for the hierarchical therapeutic ion release system, which shows enhanced biomineralization. Finally, the remaining challenges and perspectives of Mg-containing biomaterials for future in situ bone tissue engineering are discussed as well.

Translating Material Science into Bone Regenerative Medicine Applications: State-of-The Art Methods and Protocols

In the last 20 years, bone regenerative research has experienced exponential growth thanks to the discovery of new nanomaterials and improved manufacturing technologies that have emerged in the biomedical field. This revolution demands standardization of methods employed for biomaterials characterization in order to achieve comparable, interoperable, and reproducible results. The exploited methods for characterization span from biophysics and biochemical techniques, including microscopy and spectroscopy, functional assays for biological properties, and molecular profiling. This review aims to provide scholars with a rapid handbook collecting multidisciplinary methods for bone substitute R&D and validation, getting sources from an up-to-date and comprehensive examination of the scientific landscape.

Ceramic Nanofiber Materials for Wound Healing and Bone Regeneration: A Brief Review

Ceramic nanofibers have been shown to be a new horizon of research in the biomedical area, due to their differentiated morphology, nanoroughness, nanotopography, wettability, bioactivity, and chemical functionalization properties. Therefore, considering the impact caused by the use of these nanofibers, and the fact that there are still limited data available in the literature addressing the ceramic nanofiber application in regenerative medicine, this review article aims to gather the state-of-the-art research concerning these materials, for potential use as a biomaterial for wound healing and bone regeneration, and to analyze their characteristics when considering their application.

Novel insights into nanomaterials for immunomodulatory bone regeneration

Bone defect repair caused by trauma, congenital malformation, tumors, infection or systemic diseases remains the focus of attention in regeneration medicine. Recent advances in osteoimmunology indicate that immune cells and correlative cytokines modulate the delicate balance between osteoblasts and osteoclasts and induce a favorable microenvironment for bone regeneration. With superior attributes that imitate the three-dimensional architecture of natural bone, excellent fabricability, mechanical and biological properties, nanomaterials (NMs) are becoming attractive in the field of bone tissue engineering. Particularly, it could be an effective strategy for immunomodulatory bone regeneration by engineering NMs involved in composition nature, nanoarchitectural morphology, surface chemistry, topography and biological molecules, whose mechanisms potentially refer to regulating the phenotype of high-plastic immune cells and inducing cytokine secretion to accelerate osteogenesis. Despite these prominent achievements, the employment of NMs is poorly translated into clinical trials due to the lack of knowledge about the interaction between NMs and the immune system. For this reason, we sketch out the hierarchical structure of bone and its natural healing process, followed by discussion about the effects of immune cells on bone regeneration. Novel horizons focusing on recent progressions in the architectural and physicochemical performances of NMs and their impacts on the body defence mechanism are also emphasized, hoping to provide novel insights for the fabrication of bone graft materials in tissue engineering.