Regenerative repair of craniomaxillofacial bone injuries is challenging due to both the large size and irregular shape of many defects. Mineralized collagen scaffolds have previously been shown to be a promising biomaterial implant to accelerate craniofacial bone regeneration in vivo. Here we describe inclusion of a 3D-printed polymer or ceramic-based mesh into a mineralized collagen scaffold to improve mechanical and biological activity. Mineralized collagen scaffolds were reinforced with 3D-printed Fluffy-PLG (ultraporous polylactide-co-glycolide co-polymer) or Hyperelastic Bone (90wt% calcium phosphate in PLG) meshes. We show degradation byproducts and acidic release from the printed structures have limited negative impact on the viability…
Inefficient bone regeneration of self‐hardening calcium phosphate cement (CPC) increases the demand for interconnected macropores and osteogenesis‐stimulated substances. It remains a challenge to fabricate porous CPC with interconnected macropores while maintaining its advantages, such as plasticity. Herein, pastes containing CPC and wollastonite (WS) are infiltrated into a 3D plotted poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) network to fabricate plastic CPC‐based composite cement (PLGA/WS/CPC). The PLGA/WS/CPC recovers the plasticity of CPC after being heated above the glass transition temperature of PLGA. The presence of the 3D PLGA network significantly increases the flexibility of CPC in prophase and generates 3D interconnected macropores in situ upon…
Calcium phosphate (CaPs)-based nanostructures are mostly known to induce osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). However, in the current study, doping of carbon quantum dots into calcium phosphate nanorods (C-CaPs) has been observed to affect the differentiation pathway and enhanced the expression of chondrogenic genes instead of osteogenic ones. Here, we report a microwave-assisted single-step synthesis and doping of carbon dot into calcium phosphate nanorods and their ectopic chondrogenicity in a rodent subcutaneous model. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies show that the doping of carbon dots results in p-type semiconductor-like structure formation…