Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
SiC obtained from vegetable resources. The new material preserves
the interconnected hierarchic porosity of the starting natural pre-
cursors,suchaswood,algae,ormarineplants.Thewholefabrication
process, from precursor selection to the production of bioderived
SiC ceramics, and
in vitro
cell proliferation and differentiation stud-
ies are presented.
Bioinspired SiC scaffolds mimic the original structure of the
starting precursors. Therefore, considering the great biodiversity of
nature,themicrostructureofthescaffoldscanbetunedbyanappro-
priate selection of the starting vegetable resources. The
in vitro
biocompatibility studies demonstrate that this porous ceramic scaf-
fold presents a good biological response. The preosteoblastic cell
line MC3T3-E1 attached, spread, and proliferated properly on the
sapelli-based SiC ceramics, following the same proliferation pattern
as those grown on TCP controls. The unique interconnected hier-
archical porosity and microstructure of this bioinspired ceramics
favoredanearliermineralizationoftheosteoblasticcells.Theinitial
stepsinwhichthecollagenfibersappeartostartformingtrabecular
bonewere found.
The versatility of the SiC fabrication process encourages fur-
ther studies on the design of highly performing bioinspired mate-
rialsfrommarineprecursors(e.g.,algaeandmarineplants),looking
for adequate microstructures for highly porous tissue-engineered
scaffolds. In this way, the replication of the desired bone architec-
ture would favor the migration of osteogenic cells and new bone
formation inside the porous structure of the material. Finally, the
focus should be on advanced bioactive scaffolds enabling internal
growth of tissue and site-specific delivery of bioactive signaling
factors (temperature, pH, concentration, internal stimuli, etc). This
approach should include issues such as release and retention of
growth factors, surface functionalization and coating with bioactive
ceramic materials.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the UE-Interreg IIIA (SP1.P151/03)
Proteus project, the POCTEP 0330IBEROMARE1P project, and
Xunta de Galicia (Projects 2006/12 and 2010/83). The authors
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