Nanotherapeutics for regeneration of degenerated tissue infected by bacteria through the multiple delivery of bioactive ions and growth factor with antibacterial/angiogenic and osteogenic/odontogenic capacity

Therapeutic options are quite limited in clinics for the successful repair of infected/degenerated tissues.Although the prevalent treatment is the complete removal of the whole infected tissue,this leads to a loss of tissue function and serious complications.Herein the dental pulp infection,as one of the most common dental problems,was selected as a clinically relevant case to regenerate using a multifunctional nanotherapeutic approach.For this,a mesoporous bioactive glass nano-delivery system incorporating silicate,calcium,and copper as well as loading epidermal growth factor(EGF)was designed to provide antibacterial/pro-angiogenic and osteo/odontogenic multiple therapeutic effects.Amine-functionalized Cu-doped bioactive glass nanospheres(Cu-BGn)were prepared to be 50–60 nm in size,mesoporous,positive-charged and bone-bioactive.The Cu-BGn could release bioactive ions(copper,calcium and silicate ions)with therapeutically-effective doses.The Cu-BGn treatment to human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC)led to significant enhancement of the migration,tubule formation and expression of angiogenic gene(e.g.vascular endothelial growth factor,VEGF).Furthermore,the EGF-loaded Cu-BGn(EGF@Cu-BGn)showed pro-angiogenic effects with antibacterial activity against E.faecalis,a pathogen commonly involved in the pulp infection.Of note,under the co-culture condition of HUVEC with E.faecalis,the secretion of VEGF was up-regulated.In addition,the osteo/odontogenic stimulation of the EGF@Cu-BGn was evidenced with human dental pulp stem cells.The local administration of the EGF@Cu-BGn in a rat molar tooth defect infected with E.faecalis revealed significant in vivo regenerative capacity,highlighting the nanotherapeutic uses of the multifunctional nanoparticles for regenerating infected/damaged hard tissues.