Abstract
Bioactive polymeric materials based on calcium phosphates have tremendous appeal for hard tissue repair because of their well-documented biocompatibility. Amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP)-based ones additionally protect against unwanted demineralization and actively support regeneration of hard tissue minerals. Our group has been investigating the structure/composition/property relationships of ACP polymeric composites for the last two decades. Here, we present ACP’s dispersion in a polymer matrix and the fine-tuning of the resin affects the physicochemical, mechanical, and biological properties of ACP polymeric composites. These studies illustrate how the filler/resin interface and monomer/polymer molecular structure affect the material’s critical properties, such as ion release and mechanical strength. We also present evidence of the remineralization efficacy of ACP composites when exposed to accelerated acidic challenges representative of oral environment conditions. The utility of ACP has recently been extended to include airbrushing as a platform technology for fabrication of nanofiber scaffolds. These studies, focused on assessing the feasibility of incorporating ACP into various polymer fibers, also included the release kinetics of bioactive calcium and phosphate ions from nanofibers and evaluate the biorelevance of the polymeric ACP fiber networks. We also discuss the potential for future integration of the existing ACP scaffolds into therapeutic delivery systems used in the precision medicine field.
Highlights
The field of biomedical material research—the ultimate goals of which are to repair, preserve and/or advance functions of tissues damaged by pathological conditions and/or trauma—has advanced profusely in the last several decades
The process can be affected by the presence of inorganic anions, cations, or organic molecules which can adsorb on the amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) surface, incorporate into the ACP structure and/or co-precipitate with ACP
ACP EBPADMA composite was three-fold greater than the control (mean Δ(ΔZ) values of 14.44% vs. 4.31%, respectively)
Summary
The field of biomedical material research—the ultimate goals of which are to repair, preserve and/or advance functions of tissues damaged by pathological conditions and/or trauma—has advanced profusely in the last several decades. It is generally accepted that biomaterials, by either providing adequate bio-environment or just a support, play a pivotal role in tissue regeneration. In terms of their biological, compositional, mechanical, and structural properties, biomaterials can be categorized as bio-inert or bioactive ceramics, glasses, and polymers. Among CaPs, amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) is a unique non-crystalline compound which, due to its thermodynamic instability in aqueous environments, spontaneously transforms into crystalline orthophosphates, mainly hydroxyapatite (HAP) [6]. ACP forms instantaneously during the spontaneous precipitation from supersaturated basic calcium (Ca) and phosphate (PO4) solutions. HAP is a thermodynamically stable form of CaP in neutral and basic environments. The process can be affected by the presence of inorganic anions, cations, or organic molecules which can adsorb on the ACP surface, incorporate into the ACP structure and/or co-precipitate with ACP
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