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Biomaterials Translational ›› 2024, Vol. 5 ›› Issue (3): 274-299.doi: 10.12336/biomatertransl.2024.03.005

• REVIEW • Previous Articles     Next Articles

From the microspheres to scaffolds: advances in polymer microsphere scaffolds for bone regeneration applications

Shuhao Yang1,2, Haoming Wu5, Chao Peng3, Jian He6, Zhengguang Pu3, Zhidong Lin7, Jun Wang1,2, Yingkun Hu1,2, Qiao Su8, Bingnan Zhou9, Xin Yong10, Hai Lan3,*(), Ning Hu1,2,*(), Xulin Hu3,4,*()   

  1. 1 Department of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
    2 Orthopedic Laboratory of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
    3 Clinical Medical College and Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, Chengdu University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
    4 Department of Biotherapy, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
    5 School of Preclinical Medicine of Chengdu University, Chengdu University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
    6 College of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan Province, China
    7 The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
    8 West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
    9 School of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
    10 Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Department of Paediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • Received:2024-07-10 Revised:2024-08-22 Accepted:2024-09-13 Online:2024-09-28 Published:2024-09-28
  • Contact: Hai Lan,Ning Hu,Xulin Hu E-mail:13714777@qq.com;huncqjoint@yeah.net;huxulin1993@163.com
  • About author:Hai Lan, 13714777@qq.com.
    Ning Hu, huncqjoint@yeah.net;
    Xulin Hu, huxulin1993@163.com;
    First author contact:

    #Author equally.

Abstract:

The treatment and repair of bone tissue damage and loss due to infection, tumours, and trauma are major challenges in clinical practice. Artificial bone scaffolds offer a safer, simpler, and more feasible alternative to bone transplantation, serving to fill bone defects and promote bone tissue regeneration. Ideally, these scaffolds should possess osteoconductive, osteoinductive, and osseointegrative properties. However, the current first-generation implants, represented by titanium alloys, have shown poor bone-implant integration performance and cannot meet the requirements for bone tissue repair. This has led to increased research on second and third generation artificial bone scaffolds, which focus on loading bioactive molecules and cells. Polymer microspheres, known for their high specific surface areas at the micro- and nanoscale, exhibit excellent cell and drug delivery behaviours. Additionally, with their unique rigid structure, microsphere scaffolds can be constructed using methods such as thermal sintering, injection, and microsphere encapsulation. These scaffolds not only ensure the excellent cell drug loading performance of microspheres but also exhibit spatial modulation behaviour, aiding in bone repair within a three-dimensional network structure. This article provides a summary and discussion of the use of polymer microsphere scaffolds for bone repair, focusing on the mechanisms of bone tissue repair and the current status of clinical bone grafts, aimed at advancing research in bone repair.

Key words: biomimetic scaffolds, bone tissue engineering, polymer microspheres, regenerative medicine