All-in-one porous membrane enables full protection in guided bone regeneration

Abstract

The sophisticated hierarchical structure that precisely combines contradictory mechanical and biological characteristics is ideal for biomaterials, but it is challenging to achieve. Herein, we engineer a spatiotemporally hierarchical guided bone regeneration (GBR) membrane by rational bilayer integration of densely porous N-halamine functionalized bacterial cellulose nanonetwork facing the gingiva and loosely porous chitosan-hydroxyapatite composite micronetwork facing the alveolar bone. Our GBR membrane asymmetrically combine stiffness and flexibility, ingrowth barrier and ingrowth guiding, as well as anti-bacteria and cell-activation. The dense layer has a mechanically matched space maintenance capacity toward gingiva, continuously blocks fibroblasts, and prevents bacterial invasion with multiple mechanisms including release-killing, contact-killing, anti-adhesion, and nanopore-blocking; the loose layer is ultra-soft to conformally cover bone surfaces and defect cavity edges, enables ingrowth of osteogenesis-associated cells, and creates a favorable osteogenic microenvironment. As a result, our all-in-one porous membrane possesses full protective abilities in GBR.