Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the most studied organic strategies for nanomedicine. Intense interest lies in the potential of polymeric NPs to revolutionize modern medicine. To determine the ideal nanosystem for more effective and distinctly targeted delivery of therapeutic applications, particle size, morphology, material choice, and processing techniques are all research areas of interest. Utilizations of polymeric NPs include drug delivery techniques such as conjugation and entrapment of drugs, prodrugs, stimuli-responsive systems, imaging modalities, and theranostics. Cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and cardiovascular diseases are fields impacted by NP technologies that push scientific boundaries to the leading edge of transformative advances for nanomedicine.
Natural bone apatite crystals, which mediate the development and regulate the load-bearing function of bone, have recently been associated with strongly bound citrate molecules. However, such understanding has not been translated into bone biomaterial design and osteoblast cell culture. In this work, we have developed a new class of biodegradable, mechanically strong, and biocompatible citrate-based polymer blends (CBPBs), which offer enhanced hydroxyapatite binding to produce more biomimetic composites (CBPBHAs) for orthopedic applications. CBPBHAs consist of the newly developed osteoconductive citrate-presenting biodegradable polymers, crosslinked urethane-doped polyester (CUPE) and poly (octanediol citrate) (POC), which can be composited with up to 65 wt.-% hydroxyapatite (HA). CBPBHA networks produced materials with a compressive strength of 116.23 ± 5.37 MPa comparable to human cortical bone (100 – 230 MPa), and increased C2C12 osterix (OSX) gene and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) gene expression in vitro. The promising results above prompted an investigation on the role of citrate supplementation in culture medium for osteoblast culture, which showed that exogenous citrate supplemented into media accelerated the in vitro phenotype progression of MG-63 osteoblasts. After 6-weeks of implantation in a rabbit lateral femoral condyle defect model, CBPBHA composites elicited minimal fibrous tissue encapsulation and were well integrated with the surrounding bone tissues. The development of citrate-presenting CBPBHA biomaterials and preliminary studies revealing the effects of free exogenous citrate on osteoblast culture shows the potential of citrate biomaterials to bridge the gap in orthopedic biomaterial design and osteoblast cell culture in that the role of citrate molecules has previously been overlooked.
Nanotechnologies have the potential to improve current disease diagnosis due to their ability to circulate in the blood and distribute in the body to image tissues and cells or therapeutical applications to deliver a payload. Among nanoparticles with different materials composition, inorganic nanoparticles composed of calcium phosphate have numerous advantages including ease of synthesis, control of physico-chemical properties, strong interactions with their payload, and biocompatibility. In this review we discuss the different routes of synthesis of calcium phosphate nanoparticles, novel systems, strategies to load agents, biostability and cytotoxicity, biodistribution and pharmacokinetics, bio-imaging and therapeutical applications.
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