It is known that both materials chemistry and microstructure of the biomaterials play key roles in cell-materials interaction and may significantly affect cell behavior and tissue regeneration.

One example is the silicate based bioactive glasses and ceramics. Studies have shown that the dissolution products of these bioactive materials stimulated bone cell proliferation, differentiation, and expression of genes related to bone tissue regeneration, and this stimulatory effect may be considered as a new criterion for evaluation of material bioactivity. In our recent studies, we designed and fabricated a series of silicate ceramics and investigated their mechanical property, bioactivity, in vitro degradability and cytocompatibility and in vivo biocampatibility. Our results showed that some silicate ceramics exhibited good bioactivity, degradability and improved mechanical properties as compared to calcium phosphate bioceramics, could stimulate proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow and adipose derived stem cells and enhance bone regeneration in bone defect animal model. These silicate bioceramics may be used for fabrication of bone implants and bone tissue engineering scaffolds.

Besides the bioactive composition of biomaterials, the structure of the materials in micro and nano-scale may greatly affect the function of the materials as cell or drug carrier. Therefore, fabrication of biomaterials with controllable micro- and nano-structure is of great importance for tissue regeneration and tissue engineering applications. In this aspect, we have developed a novel electrospinning technique to prepare nano-fibrous scaffolds, which have the potential for tissue engineering applications.