Cerium doped dendritic mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles with bioactivity and drug delivery capability

Dendritic mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (DMBGNs) with unique three-dimensional structures are attracting increasing attention for biomedical applications. However, it is still challenging to tune the chemical composition of DMBGNs. In this work, we provide for the first time a feasible post-impregnation approach to incorporate metallic ions (Ca and Ce) into dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles, resulting in SiO₂-CaO and SiO₂-CaO-CeO₂ (Ce-DMBGNs) without destroying the dendritic mesoporous topography. Both DMBGNs and Ce-DMBGNs were amorphous, negatively charged, with a hydrodynamic size of ∼200 nm. The synthesized DMBGNs and Ce-DMBGNs exhibited high bioactivity as evidenced by the rapid formation of hydroxyapatite (HA) after immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 7 days. In addition, DMBGNs and Ce-DMBGNs showed high propolis loading efficiency and sustained release behavior. The results suggest that the developed Ce-DMBGNs have the potential to be used as a delivery vehicle of therapeutic ions and drugs in bone regeneration applications.