Osteoinductivity enhancement by tailoring the surface chemical bond status: A strategy to mobilize host bone growth factors for in situ bone regeneration

The incorporation of growth factors and biomaterials is a promising strategy for improving osseointegration. However, current strategies to develop biomaterials with exogenous growth factors present disadvantages like inefficiency, difficult deployment, and potential off-target activation, making their translation into clinical practice challenging. This study reveals a bioactive N-doped tantalum carbide (TaC) solid solution film that can be used to construct a TaCN film via bionic interface engineering to recruit host bone growth factors to the wounded site and improve bone regeneration. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and protein absorption analysis reveal that the performance of TaCN is related to the surface chemical bonds of films. The introduction of N to TaC causes a cascade effect wherein negative charges enrich on the TaCN surface, and the recruitment of positively charged bone growth factors around the TaCN film is facilitated. Under these circumstances, the endogenous bone growth factors enhance bone healing. The TaCN film shows an outstanding performance for in vivo osteogenic differentiation along with a superior in vitro cytocompatibility. Incorporation of N atoms into TaC provides a new clinically translatable strategy to mobilize host bone growth factors for in situ bone regeneration without the need for incorporation of exogenous growth factors.