A new bone augmenting material is reported, which is formed from calcium‐loaded hydrogel‐based spheres. On immersion of these spheres in a physiological medium, they become surrounded with a sheath of precipitate, which ruptures due to a build‐up in osmotic pressure. This results in the formation of mineral tubes that protrude from the sphere surface. When brought into close contact with one another, these spheres become fused through the entanglement and subsequent interstitial mineralization of the mineral tubules. The tubular calcium phosphate induces the expression of osteogenic genes (runt‐related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), transcription factor SP7 (SP7), collagen type 1 alpha 1 (COL1A1), and bone gamma‐carboxyglutamic acid‐containing protein (BGLAP)) and promotes the formation of mineral nodules in preosteoblast cultures comparable to an apatitic calcium phosphate phase. Furthermore, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is significantly upregulated in the presence of tubular materials after 10 d in culture compared with control groups (p < 0.001) and sintered apatite (p < 0.05). This is the first report of a bioceramic material that is formed in its entirety in situ and is therefore likely to provide a better proxy for biological mineral than other existing synthetic alternatives to bone grafts.

中文翻译：

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界面矿物融合和小管缠结作为硬化骨增强材料的一种手段

据报道，一种新的骨增强材料是由载钙的水凝胶基球体形成的。将这些球浸入生理介质后，它们会被一层沉淀物包围，沉淀物由于渗透压的增加而破裂。这导致形成从球体表面突出的矿物管。当彼此紧密接触时，这些球体通过矿物小管的缠结和随后的间隙矿化而融合。管状磷酸钙诱导成骨基因的表达（与矮子相关的转录因子2（RUNX2），转录因子SP7（SP7），1型胶原1α1（COL1A1），以及含有骨γ-羧基谷氨酸的蛋白质（BGLAP）），并促进成骨细胞前培养物中矿物质结节的形成，与磷灰石磷酸钙相相当。此外，与对照组相比，培养10 d后在存在管状物质的情况下，碱性磷酸酶（ALP）显着上调（p <0.001）和磷灰石烧结（p <0.05）。这是关于生物陶瓷材料完整原位形成的首次报道，因此，与其他现有的人工骨替代品相比，它可能提供更好的生物矿物质替代品。