Use of nanoparticles in skeletal tissue regeneration and engineering
Miriam Filippi1,2, Gordian Born1,2, Delphine Felder-Flesch3 and Arnaud Scherberich1,2
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil 2Department of Biomedicine, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland and 3Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux Strasbourg, UMR CNRS-Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
Offprint requests to: Arnaud Scherberich, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Gewerbestrase 14, 4123, Allschwil, Basel, Switzerland. e-mail: arnaud.scherberich@usb.ch
Summary. Bone and osteochondral defects represent one of the major causes of disabilities in the world. Derived from traumas and degenerative pathologies, these lesions cause severe pain, joint deformity, and loss of joint motion. The standard treatments in clinical practice present several limitations. By producing functional substitutes for damaged tissues, tissue engineering has emerged as an alternative in the treatment of defects in the skeletal system. Despite promising preliminary clinical outcomes, several limitations remain. Nanotechnologies could offer new solutions to overcome those limitations, generating materials more closely mimicking the structures present in naturally occurring systems. Nanostructures comparable in size to those appearing in natural bone and cartilage have thus become relevant in skeletal tissue engineering. In particular, nanoparticles allow for a unique combination of approaches (e.g. cell labelling, scaffold modification or drug and gene delivery) inside single integrated systems for optimized tissue regeneration. In the present review, the main types of nanoparticles and the current strategies for their application to skeletal tissue engineering are described. The collection of studies herein considered confirms that advanced nanomaterials will be determinant in the design of regenerative therapeutic protocols for skeletal lesions in the future. Histol Histopathol 35, 331-350 (2020)
Key words: Nanoparticles, Skeletal system, Tissue engineering, Regeneration
DOI: 10.14670/HH-18-184