The Role of Growth Factors in Bioactive Coatings

Abstract

With increasing obesity and an ageing population, health complications are also on the rise, such as the need to replace a joint with an artificial one. In both humans and animals, the integration of the implant is crucial, and bioactive coatings play an important role in bone tissue engineering. Since bone tissue engineering is about designing an implant that maximally mimics natural bone and is accepted by the tissue, the search for optimal materials and therapeutic agents and their concentrations is increasing. The incorporation of growth factors (GFs) in a bioactive coating represents a novel approach in bone tissue engineering, in which osteoinduction is enhanced in order to create the optimal conditions for the bone healing process, which crucially affects implant fixation. For the application of GFs in coatings and their implementation in clinical practice, factors such as the choice of one or more GFs, their concentration, the coating material, the method of incorporation, and the implant material must be considered to achieve the desired controlled release. Therefore, the avoidance of revision surgery also depends on the success of the design of the most appropriate bioactive coating. This overview considers the integration of the most common GFs that have been investigated in in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as in human clinical trials, with the aim of applying them in bioactive coatings. An overview of the main therapeutic agents that can stimulate cells to express the GFs necessary for bone tissue development is also provided. The main objective is to present the advantages and disadvantages of the GFs that have shown promise for inclusion in bioactive coatings according to the results of numerous studies.

Can 3D-Printed Bioactive Glasses Be the Future of Bone Tissue Engineering?

“…For drug delivery applications, bioactive glass was loaded with growth factors to promote healing process [93]. 3D printing of growth factor-loaded bioactive glass remains a challenge.…”

Addressing the Needs of the Rapidly Aging Society through the Development of Multifunctional Bioactive Coatings for Orthopedic Applications

“…Several research groups have combined antimicrobial and osteointegrative activity into a single coating system in order to develop solutions that might aid in preventing aseptic implant loosening, a common cause of orthopedic revisions worldwide. A promising approach to enhancing implant fixation is the application of osteoinductive growth factors that promote new bone formation [ 238 , 239 ]. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) is probably the most widely present osteoinductive growth factor in the development of bioactive coatings since it has obtained clinical approval [ 240 ].…”

Chondrocytes In Vitro Systems Allowing Study of OA

“…An additional advantage of the scaffold-based culture is the possibility of testing the cell response to various factors and controlling their response by incorporating specific elements into the scaffold structure. These can be for example bioactive, growth factor-rich layers coated on the surface of the scaffolds, as described in detail by Bjelić and Finšgar in 2021 [ 52 ].…”