Bioactive Ceramics as Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Carriers

Abstract

Bone tissue is the component of the skeletal system that provides the supporting structure for the body. Bone has a complex morphology; it is a specialized connective tissue composed of a calcified matrix and an organic matrix. The tissue can be organized in either the dense (compact) or spongy form (cancellous), with pore sizes within the wide range of 1100 μm (Lane et al., 1999). Although the shape of bone varies in different parts of the body, the physicochemical structure of bone for these different shapes is basically similar. The biochemical composition of bone is precisely composed of two major phases at the nanoscale level namely, organic and inorganic as a good example for a composite. These phases have multiple components which consist of, in decreasing proportions, minerals, collagen, water, non-collagenous proteins, lipids, vascular elements, and cells (Murugan & Ramakrishna, 2005). An overall composition of the bone is given in Table 1.