Biomaterials mediated microRNA delivery for bone tissue engineering

Bone tissue engineering is an alternative strategy to overcome the problems associated with traditional treatments for bone defects. A number of bioactive materials along with new techniques like porous scaffold implantation, gene delivery, 3D organ printing are now-a-days emerging for traditional bone grafts and metal implants. Studying the molecular mechanisms through which these biomaterials induce osteogenesis is an equally hot field. Biomaterials could determine the fate of a cell via microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs are short non-coding RNAs that act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and play an essential role for regulation of cell specific lineages including osteogenesis. Thus, this review focuses the recent trends on establishing a link of biomaterials with miRNAs and their delivery for bone tissue engineering applications.