Strategies for bone tissue engineering and regeneration rely on bioactive scaffolds to mimic the natural extracellular matrix and act as templates onto which cells attach, multiply, migrate and function. Of particular interest are nanocomposites and organic-inorganic (O/I) hybrid biomaterials based on selective combinations of biodegradable polymers and bioactive inorganic materials. In this pa...

Bone microstructure has usually been assessed by obtaining samples invasively and analyzing them with conventional histomorphometric methods. Improvements in high-resolution image acquisition systems have enabled non-invasive assessment of bone morphology and a more precise 3-D evaluation by means of "virtual biopsies", permitting bone assessment in regeneration or remodeling processes. Among o...

OBJECTIVE This article reviews the literature on biomaterials used for bone regeneration. MATERIAL AND METHOD A total of seventeen bibliographic sources were found using the MEDLINE database and to avoid the variability of the search terms the thesaurus Mesh was used. RESULTS These materials act essentially due to their osteoconductive ability, although their osteoinductive capacity is bein...

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are dominant seed cell sources for bone regeneration. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) initiate cartilage and bone formation in a sequential cascade. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an essential coordinator of extracellular matrix remodeling, angiogenesis and bone formation. In the present study, the effects of the vascular endoth...

Regeneration of load-bearing segmental bone defects is a major challenge in trauma and orthopaedic surgery. The ideal bone graft substitute is a biomaterial that provides immediate mechanical stability, while stimulating bone regeneration to completely bridge defects over a short period. Therefore, selective laser melted porous titanium, designed and fine-tuned to tolerate full load-bearing, wa...

Critical size bone defects due to trauma or disease are very difficult to repair via the natural growth of the host bone. Therefore, these defects must be filled with a bridging material (scaffold), which should also, in combination with relevant cells and signalling molecules, promote the regeneration of new bone tissue. In this context, bone regeneration is one of the most attractive areas in...

Regeneration of mineralized tissues affected by chronic diseases comprises a major scientific and clinical challenge. Periodontitis, one such prevalent disease, involves destruction of the tooth-supporting tissues, alveolar bone, periodontal-ligament and cementum, often leading to tooth loss. In 1997, it became clear that, in addition to their function in enamel formation, the hydrophobic ectod...

Bioactive glass has been demonstrated as a biocompatible bone substitute. However bone healing process can be prolonged due to late resorption of the material. Adipose derived stem cells (ASC) have osteogenic differentiation potential and hence can be a cell source for bone regeneration. The aim of this study was to test whether combination of bioactive glass with ASCs would enhance bone regene...

Alveolar bone regeneration is a significant challenge in dental implantation. Novel biomaterials and tissue-engineered constructs are under extensive development and awaiting in vivo animal tests to find clinical endpoint. Here, we establish a novel in vivo model, modifying gingivoperiosteoplasty in rat for the alveolar bone regeneration. Rat premaxillary bone defects were filled with silk scaf...