Antimicrobial peptides for bone tissue engineering: Diversity, effects and applications

Abstract

Bone tissue engineering has been becoming a promising strategy for surgical bone repair, but the risk of infection during trauma repair remains a problematic health concern worldwide, especially for fracture and infection-caused bone defects. Conventional antibiotics fail to effectively prevent or treat bone infections during bone defect repair because of drug-resistance and recurrence, so novel antibacterial agents with limited resistance are highly needed for bone tissue engineering. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) characterized by cationic, hydrophobic and amphipathic properties show great promise to be used as next-generation antibiotics which rarely induce resistance and show potent antibacterial efficacy. In this review, four common structures of AMPs (helix-based, sheet-based, coil-based and composite) and related modifications are presented to identify AMPs and design novel analogs. Then, potential effects of AMPs for bone infection during bone repair are explored, including bactericidal activity, anti-biofilm, immunomodulation and regenerative properties. Moreover, we present distinctive applications of AMPs for topical bone repair, which can be either used by delivery system (surface immobilization, nanoparticles and hydrogels) or used in gene therapy. Finally, future prospects and ongoing challenges are discussed.

Repair of Infected Bone Defects with Hydrogel Materials

“…As a result, there is a growing interest in antimicrobial hydrogels within the field of bone tissue engineering. These hydrogels, utilized for bone repair, exhibit the ability to accurately and efficiently eliminate bacteria through the incorporation of diverse antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics, metal nanoparticles, and AMPs [ 72 , 73 , 74 ]. Furthermore, the gradual release of these antimicrobial agents from the hydrogels contributes to their notable bacteriostatic effect, rendering them effective in infection control and the prevention of postoperative infections.…”

Multiparametric influences of 3D-printed organo-mineral scaffolds on bone regeneration

“…With the rapid development of additive manufacturing, their ability to be injected/extruded also became a notable advantage for the production of personalized scaffolds by soft chemistry (e.g., very limited heating, no aggressive/toxic chemicals, aqueous reaction). This has the signi cant advantage of allowing the direct incorporation of bioactive substances, whether they stimulate tissue formation (e.g., BMPs, VEGF) (10) or prevent infections (e.g., antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides) (11).…”

LL-37-Coupled Porous Composite Scaffold for the Treatment of Infected Segmental Bone Defect

“…For example, human β-defensin 3 can significantly reduce bacterial load, and infections in rats treated with β-defensin 3 were cleared to the same extent as those treated with the antibiotic vancomycin [ 22 , 23 ]. Moreover, there are four common structures of AMPs, including helix-based, sheet-based, coil-based and composite, whose modifications are used to identify different types of AMPs [ 24 ]. The molecular mechanisms of the antimicrobial functions of AMPs include cell wall action, membrane-targeting action, transmembrane mechanism of intracellular action and intracellular action targets [ 25 ].…”

“…The molecular mechanisms of the antimicrobial functions of AMPs include cell wall action, membrane-targeting action, transmembrane mechanism of intracellular action and intracellular action targets [ 25 ]. In addition, besides their antibacterial activities, AMPs have great performance in terms of antibiofilm activity, immunomodulation and regenerative properties [ 24 ].…”