Effect of nanostructure on osteoinduction of porous biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics

In order to evaluate the effect of the nanostructure of calcium phosphate ceramics on osteoinductive potential, porous biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) ceramics with a nano- or submicron structure were prepared via microwave sintering and compared to conventional BCP ceramics. The selective protein adsorption of bovine serum albumin and lysozyme (LSZ) and the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells in vitro was investigated. Porous BCP nanoceramics showed higher ability to adsorb proteins, especially low molecular weight protein of LSZ, than conventional BCP ceramics, and the BCP nanoceramics promoted bone sialoprotein expression more than conventional BCP did. Further in vivo study to investigate ectopic bone formation and bone repair efficiency proved the highly osteoinductive potential of nanostructured BCP ceramics. The results suggest that nanostructured BCP ceramics have the potential to become a new generation of bioceramics for bone tissue engineering grafts.