MOFs and bone: Application of MOFs in bone tissue engineering and bone diseases

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of hybrid materials, consist of organic linkers and bridging metal ions or clusters. Their tunable pore sizes, large surface area, good biocompatibility, structural variability in combination with materials and chemicals, and osteogenic effects provide potential approaches for bone tissue engineering and bone diseases. And there are more and more research on MOFs in the field of osteogenesis in recent years. This review presents an overall summary of the application in the bone tissue engineering and bone diseases of MOFs and their composites, starting with the synthesis of MOFs, which discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different syntheses. Then, the biological functions of MOFs are discussed, which are the basics of MOFs applied in the organism. Importantly, mechanisms and abundant applications of MOFs are detailed in the bone tissue engineering and bone diseases. Finally, some prospects of MOFs are discussed, for instance, exploring whether MOFs can be used to treat other bone diseases.