Abstract
Bone is a typical nanocomposite composed of hydroxyapatite nanocrystals and type-I collagen molecules. That nanostructure realizes biochemical and biomechanical properties of bone. The authors had been reported synthesis of bone-like hydroxyapatite/collagen nanocomposite (HAp/Col) and incorporation of HAp/Col into bone remodeling metabolism. In this paper, the authors report influence of porosity of HAp/Col on regeneration of critical tibia defect of bone. High (H) and low (L) porosity unidirectional porous HAp/Col and core-shell type (C) HAp/Col were prepared from the HAp/Col membrane. Three kinds of HAp/Col were implanted into dog tibia segmental defect of 20 mm in length. After 12 weeks, 90%, 109% and 121% of defect were filled with new bone by H, L and C HAp/Col, respectively. The C-type HAp/Col is expected to be high performance artificial bone to regenerate large bone defect without cells.
