Strontium-Incorporated Carbon Nitride Nanosheets Modulate Intracellular Tension for Reinforced Bone Regeneration
Lijun Liu, Zhiying Zhang, Maierhaba Aimaijiang, Manxuan Liu, Lei Huang, Ziyi Pan, Shuchen Liu, Shuangyan Qi, Xu Zhang, Huan Wang, Daowei Li, Yanmin Zhou
Abstract
Strontium-containing agents have been demonstrated to elicit both bone anabolic and antiosteoporotic effects, showing great potential for the treatment of bone loss. However, an increased incidence of strontium-induced side effects restricts their clinical applications. Herein, oxidized carbon nitride nanosheets (CN) are delicately used to incorporate Sr2+ for the first time to achieve high osteogenic efficacy. The lamellar structure and enriched nitrogen species of CN provide them with a high surface area-to-volume ratio and abundant anchoring sites for Sr2+ incorporation. Importantly, Sr2+-incorporated CN (CNS) could synergistically promote osteoblast differentiation and bone regeneration at a single, very low Sr2+ dose. Mechanically, CNS could activate the FAK/RhoA signaling pathway to modulate the intracellular tension that stimulates osteoblasts differentiation. The present study will provide a new paradigm to enhance the efficacy of osteogenic metal ions by using lamellar nanocarriers.