Building better bone grafts: Nanofibrous scaffolds activate two major collagen receptors in bone cells

Approximately 2.2 million bone graft surgeries are performed around the world each year, and the most standard treatment involves using a patient’s own bone to transplant teeth or repair and reconstruct parts of the mouth, face, and skull. This is an autograft technique used.

Considering the disadvantages of autografts, including the need for additional surgery, longer recovery time, risk of complications, and availability of large amounts of bone, a research team at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry has developed a superior bone graft. We have been successful in our efforts to build. In the laboratory.

Professor of Dentistry Peter Mar has already developed a technique to create bone scaffolds with collagen-like nanostructures, micrometer-sized pores, and natural shapes, and researchers have He said he had come up with a “great improvement” to regenerate bone by improving its interactions. .

This latest discovery is particularly beneficial for patients who require repairs involving large amounts of bone, and resulted from a collaboration between the Ma and Franceschi laboratories. The research team has filed US and international patents for peptide-containing copolymers, nanofibers, implantable and injectable 3D scaffolds for bone, and other related tissue regeneration that offer numerous benefits.

“Having a predictable source of material to regenerate bone means a more reliable procedure,” Marr said. “Most importantly, tissue can be regenerated without introducing exogenous cells, which can trigger an immune response and complicate treatment. An interesting result is that our ‘s new approach is able to regenerate about eight times more bone than scaffolds without the use of specialized peptides’ nanofibers. ”

Researchers say more than 2 million bone graft surgeries are performed worldwide, 500,000 of which are in the United States, at a total cost of about $5 billion.

In addition to autologous transplants, the researchers’ new transplant procedure could replace other approaches: allogeneic transplants using donor tissue and xenotransplants using animal tissue. Both can carry risks such as infection and unavailability.

Ma and his colleagues, who describe the science behind the new technology in their Bioactive Materials study, say this new approach has many advantages.

“What we have invented is a biodegradable polymer template containing peptides on nanofibers, which is like a key to unlocking new gates to unlock locked bone regeneration potential from the recipient’s own cells. After regenerating the pre-designed 3D bone tissue, the material degrades and disappears without any long-term complications,” said Ma, who is also a professor in the UM School of Engineering and Medicine. Ta.

“We are very excited about the discoveries we have made and are confident that what we have created will transform bone grafts for the millions of people who need them. I believe we can.”

Co-authors of the study include Tongqing Zhou, Rafael Cavalcante, Chunxi Ge, and Renny Franceschi of the UM School of Dentistry.