Application of Chitosan in Bone and Dental Engineering

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2019-08, Vol.24 (16), p.3009
• Main Authors: Aguilar, Alicia, Zein, Naimah, Harmouch, Ezeddine, Hafdi, Brahim, Bornert, Fabien, Offner, Damien, Clauss, François, Fioretti, Florence, Huck, Olivier, Benkirane-Jessel, Nadia, Hua, Guoqiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino groups; Animals; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Biocompatibility; Biodegradability; Biodegradation; Bioengineering; Biological activity; Biomaterials; Biomedical materials; Biopolymers; Bone and Bones - chemistry; bone engineering; Bone growth; Bone Regeneration - drug effects; Cell walls; Chemical Sciences; Chitin; Chitin - chemistry; Chitosan; Chitosan - chemistry; Composite materials; Crustaceans; Deacetylation; Dental materials; dental pulp; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Glucosamine; Gum disease; Hemostasis; Hemostatics; Humans; Hydrogels; Life Sciences; Lipids; Marine crustaceans; Mechanical properties; Microorganisms; Mold; Osteogenesis; Osteogenesis - drug effects; periodontitis; Pharmaceuticals; Physiology; Polyelectrolytes; Polymers; Polymers - chemistry; Polysaccharides; Protonation; Regeneration; Regeneration (physiology); Review; scaffold; Scaffolds; Shellfish; Tissue engineering; Tissue Engineering - methods; Tissue Scaffolds; Vascularization
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules24163009

Chitosan is a deacetylated polysaccharide from chitin, the natural biopolymer primarily found in shells of marine crustaceans and fungi cell walls. Upon deacetylation, the protonation of free amino groups of the d-glucosamine residues of chitosan turns it into a polycation, which can easily interact with DNA, proteins, lipids, or negatively charged synthetic polymers. This positive-charged characteristic of chitosan not only increases its solubility, biodegradability, and biocompatibility, but also directly contributes to the muco-adhesion, hemostasis, and antimicrobial properties of chitosan. Combined with its low-cost and economic nature, chitosan has been extensively studied and widely used in biopharmaceutical and biomedical applications for several decades. In this review, we summarize the current chitosan-based applications for bone and dental engineering. Combining chitosan-based scaffolds with other nature or synthetic polymers and biomaterials induces their mechanical properties and bioactivities, as well as promoting osteogenesis. Incorporating the bioactive molecules into these biocomposite scaffolds accelerates new bone regeneration and enhances neovascularization in vivo.