In vivo functionalization of diatom biosilica with sodium alendronate as osteoactive material

Publication date: November 2019Source: Materials Science and Engineering: C, Volume 104Author(s): Stefania R. Cicco, Danilo Vona, Gabriella Leone, Elvira De Giglio, Maria A. Bonifacio, Stefania Cometa, Saverio Fiore, Fabio Palumbo, Roberta Ragni, Gianluca M. FarinolaAbstractBisphosphonates are a class of drugs widely used in the clinical treatment of disorders of bone metabolism, such as osteoporosis, fibrous dysplasia, myeloma and bone metastases. Because of the negative side effects caused by oral administration of bisphosphonates, various silica mesoporous materials have been investigated for a confined and controlled release of these drugs. Here, we propose biosilica from diatoms as suitable substrate for alendronate local activation of bone cells. Following a novel strategy, sodium alendronate can be in vivo incorporated into biosilica shells of cultured Thalassiosira weissflogii diatoms, by feeding the algae with an aqueous solution of the drug. After acid/oxidative treatments for removing organic matter, the resulting bisphosphonate-functionalized mesoporous biosilica was characterized and tested as osteoinductive support. Effects on osteoblast growth and anti-osteoclast activity have been examined by evaluating SaOS-2, BMSC, J774 cell viability on the alendronate-“doped” biosilica. The loading percentage of sodium alendronate into biosilica, estimated as 1.45% w/w via TGA, was able to decrease metabolic activity of J774 osteoclasts-like cells till 5% over glass co...

Source: Materials Science and Engineering: C - June 21, 2019 Category: Materials Science Source Type: research