Title:Template-Mediated Biomineralization for Bone Tissue Engineering
Volume: 12
Issue: 2
Author(s): Alexander Leiendecker, Steffen Witzleben, Margit Schulze and Edda Tobiasch
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Biomineralization, bone, scaffold, stem cells, templates.
Abstract: Template-mediated mineralization describes a research field of materials chemistry that deals
with templates influencing product formation of foremost inorganic functional materials and composites.
These templates are usually organic compounds - as far as molecules with natural origin are involved, the
terminology "biomineralization" or "biomimetic mineralization" is used. The present review gives insight
into recent developments in the research area of bone-tissue engineering with focus on chemical templates
and cell-based approaches. The review is structured as follows: (1) a brief general overview about the
principle of templating and recently used template materials, (2) important analytical methods, (3) examples
of template-guided mineralization of various bone-related materials, (4) natural bone mineralization,
(5) scaffolds for bone-tissue regeneration and (6) cell-based therapeutic approaches. For this purpose, a
literature screening with emphasis on promising potential practical applications was performed. In particular,
macromolecular structures and polymer composites with relation to naturally occurring compounds
were favored. Priority was given to publications of the last five years. Although the present review
does not cover the whole topic to full extent, it should provide information about current trends and
the most promising approaches in the research area of bone-tissue engineering based on applications of
organic templates/scaffolds as well as cell-based strategies.
