Bioactive mesoporous silica nanoparticle-functionalized titanium implants with controllable antimicrobial peptide release potentiate the regulation of inflammation and osseointegration

Bacterial infection and delayed osseointegration are two major challenges for titanium-based orthopedic implants. In the present study, we developed a functionalized titanium implant Ti-M@A by immobilizing antimicrobial peptide (AMP) HHC36-loaded diselenide-bridged mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) on the surface, which showed good long-term and mechanical stability. The functionalized implants can realize the sustained release of AMP over 30 days and exhibit over 95.71 % antimicrobial activity against four types of clinical bacteria (S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and MRSA), which arose from the capability to destroy the bacterial membranes. Moreover, Ti-M@A can efficiently inhibit the biofilm formation of the bacteria. The functionalized implants can also significantly promote the osteogenic differentiation of mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (mBMSCs) because of the Se in MSNs. Notably, it can trigger macrophages toward M2 polarization in vitro by scavenging ROS in LPS-activated macrophages. Consequently, in vivo assays with infection and non-infection bone defect models demonstrated that such bioactive implants can not only kill over 98.82 % of S. aureus, but also promote osseointegration. Hence, this study provides a combined strategy to resolve bacterial infection and delayed osseointegration for titanium implants.