Nanomaterials for bone tissue regeneration
During the early stage of implantation, biomaterials need to offer structural support to the injured site as the bone material redevelops, requiring support with high original compressive strengths. Likened to typical tissues, nano-tissues offer exceptional characteristics. The availability of nanocrystals or nano-tubes in complex materials for bone tissue construction improves the mechanical characteristics of the support (Xu, Weir & Simon 2008). Also, matrix rigidity is an important factor in bone tissue reconstruction. Matrix rigidity is responsible for mesenchymal stem cells obligation to osteogenic diversity (Engler et al. 2006; Rowlands, George & Cooper-White 2008; Saha et al. 2007). For instance, collagen covered poly-acrylamide creams with an elastic modulus of 25–40kPa supports osteogenic separation of MSCs (Engler et al. 2006).
A single layer of tissue will develop onto implant shells due to adsorption of proteins available in biological fluids from seconds to minutes. The characteristics of the material surface (chemistry, charge, etc.) will determine the adsorbed proteins since proteins comprise diverse amino acid mixtures with widely diverse characteristics (chemical structure, charge, and hydrophilicity/ hydrophobicity). These external changes have been reformed to the entire scaffold through the development of nano-material-based supports.
