Sr- and Si-containing bioceramic stimulate in vitro osteogenesis

Abstract To develop composite bioactive bioceramics for bone tissue engineering, Sr 5 (PO 4 ) 2 SiO 4 (SrPS) bioceramics that containing bioactive Si and Sr ions were successfully prepared by compression molding in the present study. Cell proliferation and molecular biology actions were studied using the rabbit bone marrow stromal cells (rBMSCs) to evaluate the biological properties of this novel bioceramic. The results showed that comparing with traditional β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), the prepared SrPS bioceramics presented satisfied cytocompatibility and enhanced cell proliferation. In addition, the expression of the bone-related gene bone morphorgenetic protein 2 (BMP2) and osteocalcin (OCN) of rBMSCs was also improved. These results demonstrated that the prepared SrPS bioceramics could stimulate osteogenic in vitro , demonstrating that they might have bright potential for being used as bone repair material.