Recent Advances in Design of Functional Biocompatible Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Bone related diseases have caused serious threats to human health owing to their complexity and specificity. Fortunately, owing to the unique 3D network structure with high aqueous content and functional properties, emerging hydrogels are regarded as one of the most promising candidates for bone tissue engineering, such as repairing cartilage injury, skull defect, and arthritis. Herein, various design strategies and synthesis methods (e.g., 3D‐printing technology and nanoparticle composite strategy) are introduced to prepare implanted hydrogel scaffolds with tunable mechanical strength, favorable biocompatibility, and excellent bioactivity for applying in bone regeneration. Injectable hydrogels based on biocompatible materials (e.g., collagen, hyaluronic acid, chitosan, polyethylene glycol, etc.) possess many advantages in minimally invasive surgery, including adjustable physicochemical properties, filling irregular shapes of defect sites, and on‐demand release drugs or growth factors in response to different stimuli (e.g., pH, temperature, redox, enzyme, light, magnetic, etc.). In addition, drug delivery systems based on micro/nanogels are discussed, and its numerous promising designs used in the application of bone diseases (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, cartilage defect) are also briefed in this review. Particularly, several key factors of hydrogel scaffolds (e.g., mechanical property, pore size, and release behavior of active factors) that can induce bone tissue regeneration are also summarized in this review. It is anticipated that advanced approaches and innovative ideas of bioactive hydrogels will be exploited in the clinical field and increase the life quality of patients with the bone injury.

Advances in Use of Nanomaterials for Musculoskeletal Regeneration

“…They have adjustable physicochemical properties and can fill irregular shapes of defect sites and release drugs or growth factors via different stimuli (pH, temperature, redox, enzyme, light, magnetic, etc.) [213]. Primary MSCs along with BMP-2 were incorporated into the ALG skeleton.…”

Bone Regeneration Using MMP-Cleavable Peptides-Based Hydrogels

“…Bone tissue regeneration in orthopedic and maxillofacial surgery remains a common challenge [ 1 ]. Trauma, tumors, infectious diseases, biochemical disorders, congenital disorders or abnormal skeletal development are the cause of bone defects, resulting in functional, esthetic and psychological defects in patients [ 2 ]. Natural healing of skeletal structure is relatively limited and requires assistance during pathological conditions such as severe injuries, osteoporosis, osteosarcoma and infection [ 3 ].…”

The Effects of a Short Self-Assembling Peptide on the Physical and Biological Properties of Biopolymer Hydrogels

“…A variety of materials have been used for such purposes to date, and a combination of inorganic or organic materials with natural polymers are currently in routine use for tissue engineering [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], where they provide the mechanical and structural support necessary for cell growth. In recent years, much attention has been focused on biodegradable and injectable hydrogels as promising candidates for matrix and scaffolds in tissue engineering [ 10 , 11 , 12 ], and natural polysaccharide-based hydrogels including chitosan (Cht), hyaluronic acid (HA), and alginate (Alg) are in common use [ 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. These materials fulfil the basic criteria of bio-compatibility, hydrophilicity, and capacity for high water storage in their long entangled network, which mimics the natural extracellular matrix and allows cells to adhere and differentiate.…”

“…These materials fulfil the basic criteria of bio-compatibility, hydrophilicity, and capacity for high water storage in their long entangled network, which mimics the natural extracellular matrix and allows cells to adhere and differentiate. However, these biopolymer-based hydrogels suffer from inferior mechanical properties, which make them weaker than the natural ECM and thus they cannot be implanted [ 6 , 13 , 18 ].…”