| Posted: Feb 26, 2015 |
Bioactive nanoengineered hydrogels for bone tissue engineering |
| (Nanowerk News) Despite bone's impressive ability to heal after traumatic injuries and fractures, a significant need still exists for developing strategies to promote healing of nonunion defects. To address this issue, researchers at Texas A&M University have engineered bioactive nanocomposite hydrogels loaded with nanosilicates within collagen-based polymer networks. |
| They reported their findings in ACS Nano ("Bioactive Nanoengineered Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Engineering: A Growth-Factor-Free Approach"). |
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| Although the use of nanosilicates in the life sciences is still in its infancy, the promising bioactive effects promoted by interactions with nanosilicates has opened a wide range of biomedical and biological applications, including therapeutics, imaging, and disease-related diagnostics for regenerative medicine. |
| When incorporated into a gelatin matrix, the nanosilicates likely interact with polymeric chains through strong electrostatic interactions and were shown to enhance several physical, chemical, and biological properties of the hydrogel. |
| The addition of silicate nanoparticles increased stiffness and in vitro enzymatic stability, thus improving the tunable mechanical properties and degradation profile. |
| In vitro data indicated that silicate-based bioactive nanocomposites support cell adhesion and proliferation and promote osteogenic differentiation of preosteoblasts in the absence of any osteoinductive factor. Overall, these nanosilicate-based nanocomposites are highly bioactive and show strong promise for use in a range of bone tissue engineering applications. |
| Source: American Chemical Society |
