Bones of glass: A strong solution

Bone grafts help repair bones fractured by injury or weakened by disease, but can face a range of challenges. Donor grafts can be rejected by the patient’s immune system or even transfer disease, while grafts from the patient themselves risk donor site morbidity and additional surgical demands for those already under stress.

Bioengineered materials have the potential to solve these problems, but they must be biocompatible, mimic bone’s natural structure, and match the required mechanical properties of the site. Murugan et al. met these demands with their biomaterial made from Mesoporous Bioactive Glass and molybdenum disulfide, which encourages bone repair, acts as a scaffold, and minimizes infection risk.

“The developed material is biocompatible and able to form the bone mineral of hydroxyapatite which allows it to integrate with host tissue without triggering immune reactions,” said author Jayachandran Venkatesan. “Its porosity and structure facilitate cell adhesion, migration, and nutrient diffusion, promoting bone-forming cells’ growth. Its mechanical properties are tailored to match specific bone site demands, providing support and stability.”

As the material degrades, it releases simvastatin, a drug that promotes bone regeneration and reduces the risk of infection.

The team’s in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated the potential of this material as a graft, with good biocompatibility, cell differentiation, and bone formation. Its customizable nature enables the possibility of more personalized medicine.

“The future research is expected to move toward tailored healthcare, in which biomaterials are modified to each patient according to their anatomical characteristics,” said Venkatesan. “This would increase the success rate of biomaterials in clinical settings and push the field toward more patient-focused treatments.”

Source: “Fabrication and characterizations of simvastatin containing mesoporous bioactive glass and molybdenum disulfide scaffold for bone tissue engineering,” by Sesha Subramanian Murugan, Pandurang Appana Dalavi, Suprith Surya, Sukumaran Anil, Sebanti Gupta, Rohan Shetty, and Jayachandran Venkatesan, APL Bioengineering (2023). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0172002 .

This paper is part of the Structure and Mechanics of Biofluids, Biomaterials, and Biologics Collection, learn more here .