Lithiated porous silicon nanowires stimulate periodontal regeneration

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 487
• Main Authors: Kaasalainen, Martti, Zhang, Ran, Vashisth, Priya, Birjandi, Anahid Ahmadi, S’Ari, Mark, Martella, Davide Alessandro, Isaacs, Mark, Mäkilä, Ermei, Wang, Cong, Moldenhauer, Evelin, Clarke, Paul, Pinna, Alessandra, Zhang, Xuechen, Mustfa, Salman A., Caprettini, Valeria, Morrell, Alexander P., Gentleman, Eileen, Brauer, Delia S., Addison, Owen, Zhang, Xuehui, Bergholt, Mads, Al-Jamal, Khuloud, Volponi, Ana Angelova, Salonen, Jarno, Hondow, Nicole, Sharpe, Paul, Chiappini, Ciro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.01.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/106; 13/51; 14/28; 140/131; 140/133; 140/146; 147/135; 147/137; 38; 38/77; 639/638/298/54/990; 639/925/352/1061; 639/925/357/551; 64/110; 64/86; 692/700/3032/3149/3029; Animals; beta Catenin; Biocompatibility; Biomedical materials; Bone growth; Bone healing; Cementum; Controllability; Dental Cementum; Fibers; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lithium; Lithium - pharmacology; Mice; multidisciplinary; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Osteogenesis; Periodontal disease; Periodontal diseases; Periodontal ligament; Periodontium; Porosity; Porous silicon; Regeneration; Regeneration (physiology); Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Silicic acid; Silicic Acid - pharmacology; Silicon; Silicon - pharmacology; Stimuli; Teeth; Wnt protein; β-Catenin
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44581-5

Periodontal disease is a significant burden for oral health, causing progressive and irreversible damage to the support structure of the tooth. This complex structure, the periodontium, is composed of interconnected soft and mineralised tissues, posing a challenge for regenerative approaches. Materials combining silicon and lithium are widely studied in periodontal regeneration, as they stimulate bone repair via silicic acid release while providing regenerative stimuli through lithium activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Yet, existing materials for combined lithium and silicon release have limited control over ion release amounts and kinetics. Porous silicon can provide controlled silicic acid release, inducing osteogenesis to support bone regeneration. Prelithiation, a strategy developed for battery technology, can introduce large, controllable amounts of lithium within porous silicon, but yields a highly reactive material, unsuitable for biomedicine. This work debuts a strategy to lithiate porous silicon nanowires (LipSiNs) which generates a biocompatible and bioresorbable material. LipSiNs incorporate lithium to between 1% and 40% of silicon content, releasing lithium and silicic acid in a tailorable fashion from days to weeks. LipSiNs combine osteogenic, cementogenic and Wnt/β-catenin stimuli to regenerate bone, cementum and periodontal ligament fibres in a murine periodontal defect. Prelithiation can introduce controllable amounts of lithium within porous silicon, however it yields a highly reactive material unsuitable for biomedicine. In this study, the authors present a strategy to lithiate porous silicon nanowires, resulting in a biocompatible and bioresorbable material.