Fabrication and Animal Experiment of Nanocomposites of Hydroxyapatite Collagen and Polysaccharides

摘要

Four species of nanocomposites organized by hydroxyapatite (HAp), hyaluronic acid (HyA), chondroitin sulfate (ChS) and type II collagen (Col), i.e. HAp/HyA, HAp/ChS, HAp/HyA/Col and HAp/ChS/Col composites, were synthesized by coprecipitation methods. The composites could retain lots of water: 40 percent, 32 percent, 42 percent and 58 percent for the HAp/HyA, HAp/ChS, HAp/HyA/Col and HAp/ChS/Col composites, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy observations revealed that the HAp/HyA and HAp/ChS composites consisted of island-like aggregations whose sizes were 300nm in length and 30nm in width, and 150nm in length and 30nm in width, respectively. In the aggregations, there were many HAp nanocrystals of 20nm in length, and their c-axes were aligned along the respective polymer molecules through a self-organization process. Animal tests showed that chondrocyte-like cells penetrated into the HAp/ChS/Col composites 4 weeks after implantation. It was shown that the HAp/ChS/Col composite has a potential for cartilage regeneration and the HAp/HyA/Col composite for bone regeneration.