4D-printed dual-responsive bioscaffolds for treating critical-sized irregular bone defects

Abstract

Currently, treating irregular bone defects with a critical size is still challenging as material implantation in the complex defects with irregular shapes, effective osteogenesis and sufficient vascularization cannot be easily achieved simultaneously via a simple strategy. Herein, a dual-responsive bone tissue engineering scaffold is developed using a 4D printing strategy by intergrating a single type of multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles, Fe3O4@SiO2, with printing inks made of bioceramics and biopolymers. Minimally invasive implantation, fluent navigation of scaffolds as well as the precise boundary matching between scaffolds and the irregular defects are achieved through near-infrared (NIR) irradiation-based temperature responsive shape recovery and static magnetic field (SMF) stimulation. Moreover, improved bone regeneration in critical-sized bone defects is successfully achieved through the activation of PI3K/AKT pathway which significantly promotes osteogenic differentiation and vascularization. Besides, NIR-based photothermal stimulation upregulates the expression of heat shock protein (HSP90) and further promotes the osteogenesis and vascularization. The in vivo study also confirms that our scaffold can precisely fit the bone defect, and induce satisfactory osteogenesis and angiogenesis. This work provides a facile strategy to simultaneously-realize easy scaffold implantation in irregular bone defects and improves osteogenesis and angiogenesis by integrating a single type of multifunctional nanoparticles with scaffold matrices.