Berberine/Ag nanoparticle embedded biomimetic calcium phosphate scaffolds for enhancing antibacterial function

Cheng Hu,Chenxi Zhang,Jie Liang,Lina Wu,Peng Gao,Xuedong Zhou,Changchun Zhou,Xiujuan Xu,Jianxun Sun,Huan Sun,Yujiang Fan,Xingdong Zhang

doi:10.1515/ntrev-2020-0046

Abstract

Abstract In the past decade, biomimetic calcium phosphate (CaP) ceramics have been considered as practicable grafts and biomaterial substitutes in repairing jaw bone defect after tumor resection or traffic accident. Nowadays, increasing incidence of biomedical material-associated infection has raised a concern when applying these materials. In this work, a new porous CaP scaffold with antibacterial coating was proposed. This biomimetic scaffold was composited with berberine (BBR), Ag nanoparticles (nAg), and silk fibroin (SF). The microstructures and phase composition of the scaffolds were analyzed. The cytocompatibility and osteogenic potential of the prepared samples were evaluated in vitro. The scaffolds held hierarchical structure: the first-level porous CaP ceramic with micron pores ranged from 250 to 600 µm; the second-level spongy-like structure with abundant capillary pores ranged from 500 nm to 10 µm; and the third-level structure was achieved by filling BBR, nAg, and SF gel coatings into the above porous structures. The experimental results showed that the antimicrobial capability of single BBR coating is inconspicuous. However, the introduction of nAg could significantly promote the antibacterial effect of scaffolds. At the same time, such scaffolds showed improved osteoinductivity. This new biomimetic CaP scaffold with antibacterial and osteoinductive properties may be a promising candidate for bone tissue engineering.

Highlights

Biomimetic design, structures, and biological functions of biomaterials are very important for promoting scaffold repair or regenerating tissues [1,2,3]
On days 1, 3, and 5, the cells on the samples were incubated with a medium containing 10% cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) solution at 37°C for 2 h, and the absorbance was measured at 450 nm
The results indicated that the porous calcium phosphate (CaP) ceramic with micron pores ranged from 250 to 600 μm in size, which were obtained by gas foaming method to mimic the natural bone structures

Summary

Introduction

Biomimetic design, structures, and biological functions of biomaterials are very important for promoting scaffold repair or regenerating tissues [1,2,3]. Biological activity, and absorbable degradation, calcium phosphate (CaP) biomaterials have been extensively used as autologous bone graft substitute [4]. Various potential infections associated with CaP bone implants may cause delayed union, implant failure, and even life threatening. While large doses of antibiotics applied clinically may induce the appearance of drug-resistance strains and decrease the drug efficiency [6]. To address this problem, introducing local sustained-release antimicrobial coatings without antibiotic might be a practicable surface modification method

Methods

Results

Conclusion