Do carbon nanotubes control bone remodeling?

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Much attention has been focused in recent years on the applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as biomaterials. Application of CNTs to the regenerative medicine including bone regeneration is studied in particular as CNTs have been reported to be useful scaffold materials. In the process in which the skeletal metabolism action of CNT is analyzed, we found two new functions. (1) CNT taken in osteoclast precursors inhibited nuclear translocation of NFATc1, an indispensable transcription factor for osteoclastogenesis, to suppress osteoclastic differentiation. (2) CNTs promote osteoblast differentiation by causing local accumulation of Ca. CNTs served as nuclei of hydroxyapatite crystallization and induced calcification with the help of alkaline phosphatase released by osteoblasts. This synergistic effect promotes bone formation. We have established a new concept that the CNT act as a regulator of bone remodelling.