Bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) are multifunctional building blocks of
tissue engineering scaffolds or drug delivery platforms for bone tissue regeneration
owing to their favorable osteogenic, angiogenic, immunomodulatory, and antibacterial
activities. Natural polymer-based hydrogels are one of the most promising biomaterials
for numerous biomedical applications, considering their extracellular matrix (ECM)-
mimic structure, outstanding biocompatibility, and biodegradability. However, these
hydrogels are intrinsically mechanically weak and lack biological functionalities,
which impede their performance in bone tissue regeneration. Incorporating BGNs as
rigid fillers in natural polymer-based hydrogels has been proposed as a feasible strategy
to combine the advantages of both components leading to advanced nanocomposite
hydrogels. Here the synthesis approaches of BGNs that determine the nanoparticles’
morphology and properties are first summarized. The interactions between BGNs and
natural polymer-based hydrogels are also emphasized. The key physiochemical and
biological properties of BGNs that are related to bone tissue formation are highlighted.
Published results are evidence of the fact that the combination of BGNs and natural
polymers toward nanocomposite hydrogels is a feasible strategy for successful bone
regeneration.
Keywords: Bioactive glasses, Nanoparticles, Natural polymers, Nanocomposites, Tissue regeneration.
