Bone tissue engineering is an exciting approach to directly repair bone defects or engineer bone tissue for transplantation. Biomaterials play a pivotal role in providing a template and extracellular environment to support regenerative cells and promote tissue regeneration. A variety of signaling cues have been identified to regulate cellular activity, tissue development, and the healing process. Numerous studies and trials have shown the promise of tissue engineering, but successful translations of bone tissue engineering research into clinical applications have been limited, due in part to a lack of optimal delivery systems for these signals. Biomedical engineers are therefore highly motivated to develop biomimetic drug delivery systems, which benefit from mimicking signaling molecule release or presentation by the native extracellular matrix during development or the natural healing process. Engineered biomimetic drug delivery systems aim to provide control over the location, timing, and release kinetics of the signal molecules according to the drug’s physiochemical properties and specific biological mechanisms. This article reviews biomimetic strategies in signaling delivery for bone tissue engineering, with a focus on delivery systems rather than specific molecules. Both fundamental considerations and specific design strategies are discussed with examples of recent research progress, demonstrating the significance and potential of biomimetic delivery systems for bone tissue engineering.

骨组织工程是一种直接修复骨缺损或设计用于移植的骨组织的令人兴奋的方法。生物材料在提供模板和细胞外环境以支持再生细胞和促进组织再生方面发挥着关键作用。已确定多种信号线索可调节细胞活动、组织发育和愈合过程。大量研究和试验显示了组织工程的前景，但骨组织工程研究成功转化为临床应用的能力有限，部分原因是缺乏这些信号的最佳传递系统。因此，生物医学工程师非常积极地开发仿生药物递送系统，该系统受益于在发育或自然愈合过程中模仿天然细胞外基质的信号分子释放或呈递。工程仿生药物递送系统旨在根据药物的理化性质和特定的生物机制来控制信号分子的位置、时间和释放动力学。本文回顾了骨组织工程信号传递的仿生策略，重点关注传递系统而不是特定分子。结合最新研究进展的例子讨论了基本考虑因素和具体设计策略，展示了仿生输送系统对于骨组织工程的重要性和潜力。