Sol-gel derived organic/inorganic hybrids, in which organic and inorganic components form co-networks at the molecular level, have demonstrated great potential for providing improved mechanical properties and biological functions in tissue engineering applications. Here, a novel bioactive hydroxyapatite-chitosan-silica hybrid (HA-CSH) scaffold was successfully fabricated by combining the sol-gel method and 3D plotting technique. Physiochemical characterization confirmed that chitosan was hybridized homogeneously with the inorganic phase on nanoscale. The obtained scaffolds possessed precisely controllable and interconnected porous structures. The nano-sized HA formed in situ and dispersed uniformly in the hybrid network, which reduced the water absorption and increased the mechanical strength of the hybrid scaffold under humidity condition as compared to chitosan-silica hybrid (CSH) scaffold. Compression tests showed that the 3D plotted hybrid scaffolds under wet conditions had compressive strengths of 10–13 MPa and elastic moduli of 21–27 MPa and thus met the mechanical requirements of human trabecular bone. Studies on the mineralization process under simulated body fluid (SBF) conditions confirmed that the introduction of HA obviously increased the biological activity of hybrid scaffolds. In vitro cell results indicated that the HA-CSH scaffold not only supported adhesion and proliferation of mouse bone mesenchymal stem cells (mBMSCs), but also improved the osteoinductivity. The alkaline phosphatase activity and mineral deposition on the HA-CSH scaffold were higher than those on the CSH scaffold. These results suggested that the 3D plotted HA-CSH scaffold may be a promising bioactive material for bone tissues regeneration.

溶胶-凝胶衍生的有机/无机杂化体（其中有机和无机成分在分子水平形成共网络）已显示出在组织工程应用中提供改进的机械性能和生物学功能的巨大潜力。在这里，结合溶胶-凝胶法和3D绘图技术成功地制造了一种新型的生物活性羟基磷灰石-壳聚糖-二氧化硅杂化（HA-CSH）支架。物理化学特征证实壳聚糖与无机相在纳米级上均匀杂交。所获得的支架具有可精确控制和互连的多孔结构。原位形成的纳米HA与壳聚糖-二氧化硅杂化（CSH）支架相比，它在湿润条件下降低了吸水率并提高了杂化支架的机械强度，使其均匀地分散在杂化网络中。压缩测试表明，在潮湿条件下3D绘制的混合支架具有10-13 MPa的抗压强度和21-27 MPa的弹性模量，因此可以满足人体小梁骨的机械要求。对模拟体液（SBF）条件下矿化过程的研究证实，HA的引入明显提高了杂种支架的生物活性。体外细胞结果表明，HA-CSH支架不仅支持小鼠骨间充质干细胞（mBMSCs）的粘附和增殖，而且还改善了骨诱导能力。HA-CSH支架上的碱性磷酸酶活性和矿物质沉积高于CSH支架上的碱性磷酸酶活性和矿物质沉积。这些结果表明，绘制的3D HA-CSH支架可能是有希望的骨组织再生生物活性材料。