Preparation and biological effects of apatite nanosheet-constructed porous ceramics

The design and processing of bioceramics into specific architectures (especially with micro-/nanoscale specific architectures) to improve their biological performances or extend their applications are always the cutting-edge research of bioceramics. Herein, we designed a kind of apatite nanosheet-constructed porous ceramics (AN-PCs), which were fabricated by foam moulding, high heat sintering, and then water soaking the α-tricalcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite - contained porous biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics). Experiments demonstrated that such stereo-nanotopographies had excellent cytocompatibility, and could regulate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to differentiate into osteogenic lineages. And an in vivo ectopic-implant showed that the AN-PCs possessed osteoinductivity. Thus, the AN-PCs reported herein show improved biological performances to repair hard tissues.