Abstract
Thermosensitive alginate-poloxamer (ALG-POL) copolymer with an optimal POL content was synthesized, and it was used to combine with silk fibroin (SF) for building ALG-POL/SF hydrogels with dual network structure. Mesoporous bioactive glass (BG) nanoparticles (NPs) with a high level of mesoporosity and large pore size were prepared and they were employed as a vehicle for loading insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). IGF-1-loaded BG NPs were embedded into ALG-POL/SF hydrogels to achieve the controlled delivery of IGF-1. The resulting IGF-1-loaded BG/ALG-POL/SF gels were found to be injectable with their sol-gel transition near physiological temperature and pH. Rheological measurements showed that BG/ALG-POL/SF gels had their elastic modulus higher than 5kPa with large ratio of elastic modulus to viscous modulus, indicative of their mechanically strong features. The dry BG/ALG-POL/SF gels were seen to be highly porous with well-interconnected pore characteristics. The gels loaded with varied amounts of IGF-1 showed abilities to administer IGF-1 release in approximately linear manners for a few weeks while effectively preserving the bioactivity of encapsulated IGF-1. Results suggest that such constructed BG/ALG-POL/SF gels can function as a promising injectable biomaterial for bone tissue engineering applications.