Biomimetic approaches to engineer bioactive glass-based nanosystems

Abstract

Despite the remarkable osteoconductive properties attributed to bioactive glass since its discovery, it is still a brittle material. Therefore, its applications are limited by a proper engineering of the material’s structure, or by its combination with other materials, like polymers. In native mineralized tissues, the blend of organic with inorganic phases is frequently the key for the remarkable mechanical properties of this class of natural materials.The main goal of this work was to give a step further in producing in vitro materials able to mimic the structural and chemical environment necessary to bone growth. Micro and nanofabrication techniques were used to recapitulate the complex environment of mineralized tissues. Bioactive glass and chitosan were chosen as materials to be combined respectively as mineral and organic phase in order to mimic bone structure.