3D printing functional graphenic materials (FGMs) as intrinsically inductive scaffolds for bone regeneration

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Abstract Severe bone injury can occur due to traumatic events such as automobile accidents or battlefield injuries, and every year millions of patients in the United States undergo procedures, often invasive and painful, every year to correct these deformities. Currently, autologous tissue transplantation or implantation of prosthetic devices is used as a therapeutic treatment for large defect areas. These procedures are limited by a lack of donor tissue, donor site morbidity, potential for graft rejection, susceptibility to infection, and feasibility of transplantation. Non- resorbable materials, such as titanium, remain as a permanent implant material and lack the ability to remodeled for integration with native tissue. We propose a new class of 3D printed graphenic scaffold to mimic the complexity of bone and induce the native regenerative response. Functional graphenic materials (FGMs) are a novel class of potential scaffold material that offer tunable mechanical properties, degradability, and surface chemistry, which together can be used to control bioactivity. The Sydlik group has developed several novel FGMs that inherently induce osteogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, we have shown that calcium phosphate graphene (CaPG) releases bioinstructive counter ions, Ca2+ and PO43- , to spontaneously induces osteogenesis in vivo in a mouse model (PNAS, 2019). However, the application of FGMs as biomaterials is restricted due to insufficient control of the chemical interface and limited processing methods. Thus, to make this technology translatable, we need a fabrication technique that can create volumetric constructs to fill large bone defects. 3D printing is uniquely positioned to address this challenge because scaffolds can be custom printed to match the patients defect site. This proposal seeks to advance bioactive osteogenic CaPG into instructive scaffolds that achieve significantly improved cranial bone regeneration.