State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education,East China University of Science and Technology
The interaction between materials and host microenvironment directly affects the process and quality of bone repair. Due to the unclear biological effects, repair process and mechanism of materials in the host microenvironment, the repair effects of most materials are not satisfying. It is difficult to achieve real “bony fusion”, so its clinical application is limited. Therefore, it is urgent to find out the biological effects of materials, as well as their occurring rules and mechanisms. This paper describes some novel biological effects of biomaterials after implantation into body, such as immunomodulatory effect, synergistic effect with growth factors, and angiogenesis effect. We pointed out that the implanted material exists in the dynamic host microenvironment rather than the static environment. As a result, the changes of material parameters lead to the alteration in the microenvironment, thus affecting regeneration process. On the other hand, the microenvironment also affects the fate of materials. It is suggested that the future trend of tissue regenerative materials is to focus on the study of materiobiology and reveal the mechanism and rule of materials in life activities.