L-Leucine-Incorporated SilMA Hydrogel

Promotes bone repair

A 3D-printable hydrogel scaffold that enhances mechanical properties and cytocompatibility through L-leucine incorporation, promoting osteogenesis and angiogenesis, and markedly accelerating new bone formation in a calvarial defect model.

Wang, Lei · Zhang, Xin · Zhao, Rui · Zhu, Kun

Materials Today Bio 2026

Specifications

Optimal L-leucine concentration

{'zh': '300', 'en': '300'} ng mL⁻¹

Advantages

Balanced osteogenic and angiogenic performance

At 300 ng mL⁻¹ L-Leu, it shows the most balanced osteogenic and angiogenic performance, promoting osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and enhancing angiogenic activity of human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Enhanced mechanical properties

L-Leu incorporation enhances the compressive performance without compromising print fidelity.

Improved cell attachment microenvironment

L-Leu incorporation enhances surface wettability, thereby improving the interfacial microenvironment for cell attachment and tissue remodeling.

Applications

• Bone tissue engineering scaffolds：Provides 3D-printable scaffolds with both osteogenic and angiogenic activity for bone defect repair.
• Bioinks：Can be used directly as a photocurable bioink to print customized bone repair scaffolds.
• 3D-printed implants：Enables printing of implants with programmable pore structures to match defect geometry.