Preparation, characterization, and in vitro bioactivity of nagelschmidtite bioceramics

The aim of this study is to prepare Ca, P and Si-containing ternary oxide nagelschmidtite (NAGEL, Ca7Si2P2O16) bioceramics and explore their in vitro bioactivity for potential bone tissue regeneration. We prepared dense NAGEL ceramics through high-temperature sintering of NAGEL ceramic powders. The apatite-mineralization ability, dissolution rate, and human osteoblast response (including cytotoxicity analysis, attachment, morphology, proliferation, and bone-related gene expression) to NAGEL ceramics have been systematically studied by comparing with conventional β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) ceramics. The results showed that NAGEL ceramics possessed more obvious apatite mineralization and dissolution (degradation) and stimulated bone-related gene expression (OCN and OPN) of osteoblasts than β-TCP ceramics. NAGEL ceramics also showed no significant cytotoxicity. NAGEL ceramics supported osteoblast attachment, proliferation, and osteogenic gene expression, with a comparable cell proliferation activity with β-TCP ceramics. These results indicate that novel NAGEL bioceramics with the specific composition of Ca7Si2P2O16, are a promising biomaterial for bone tissue regeneration application.