Combination of Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles and Natural Polymer-Based Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Regeneration

Preview this chapter:

Combination of Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles and Natural Polymer-Based Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Regeneration, Page 1 of 1

< Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/9789815313895/chapter-8-1.gif

Bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) are multifunctional building blocks of tissue engineering scaffolds or drug delivery platforms for bone tissue regeneration owing to their favorable osteogenic, angiogenic, immunomodulatory, and antibacterial activities. Natural polymer-based hydrogels are one of the most promising biomaterials for numerous biomedical applications, considering their extracellular matrix (ECM)- mimic structure, outstanding biocompatibility, and biodegradability. However, these hydrogels are intrinsically mechanically weak and lack biological functionalities, which impede their performance in bone tissue regeneration. Incorporating BGNs as rigid fillers in natural polymer-based hydrogels has been proposed as a feasible strategy to combine the advantages of both components leading to advanced nanocomposite hydrogels. Here the synthesis approaches of BGNs that determine the nanoparticles' morphology and properties are first summarized. The interactions between BGNs and natural polymer-based hydrogels are also emphasized. The key physiochemical and biological properties of BGNs that are related to bone tissue formation are highlighted. Published results are evidence of the fact that the combination of BGNs and natural polymers toward nanocomposite hydrogels is a feasible strategy for successful bone regeneration.