Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2
Biomimetic Synthesis of
Self-Assembled Mineralized
Collagen-Based Composites for Bone
Tissue Engineering
Xiumei Wang*, Zhixu Liu and Fuzhai Cui
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Abstract
The self-assembled mineralized collagen fi brils are ubiquitous in most mammalian
calcifi ed tissues such as bone and dentine, which are hierarchically organized by
collagen fi brils and hydroxyapatite (HA) crystallites giving these tissues unique
hierarchical architectures and specialized functions. Therefore, many efforts have
been concentrated on the thorough understanding of the collagen-medicated
biomineralization processes and the biomimetic synthesis of the unique architec-
tures for applications such as bone-defect repair and regeneration. In this chapter,
we fi rstly highlight the current understanding of the self-assembling processes,
microstructures and hierarchical organization of mineralized collagen fi brils in
nature bone tissues, such as lamellar bones, woven bones, and zebrafi sh skeletal
bones. And the biomimetic syntheses of self-assembled mineralized fi brils are then
reviewed with emphases on mineralized collagen fi brils, although some other sys-
tems are also described. The biomimetric mineralized collagen fi brils, an organic/
inorganic hybrid material that resembles the self-assembly of
in vivo
nanocompos-
ites from nanoscale to micrometer scale, have been applied for the fabrication of
biomimetic bone grafting materials showing great promise and success in clinical
applications.
Keywords:
Biomimetic, self-assembly, collagen, hydroxyapatite, bone tissue
engineering, biomineralization
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