In order to achieve smart biomedical micro/nanomaterials, promote interaction with biomolecules, improve osteogenic/chondrogenic differentiation, exhibit better dispersion in bone implants and ultimately maximize functionality, we innovatively and successfully designed and synthesized polymer PBLG-modified GdPO4·H2O nanobunches by hydroxylation, silylation and glutamylation processes. The effects of different feeding ratios on the surface coating of GdPO4·H2O with Si-OH, the grafting γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS) and the in situ ring-opening polymerization reaction of poly(g-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG) were investigated, and the physical and chemical properties were characterized in detail. When GdPO4·H2O@SiO2-APS:NCA = 4:1, the PBLG-g-GdPO4·H2O grafting rate was 5.93%, with good stability and dispersion in degradable polymeric materials. However, the MRI imaging signal was sequentially weakened as the modification process proceeded. Despite this, the biological effects had surprising findings. All the modifiers at appropriate concentrations were biocompatible and biologically active and the biomacromolecules of COL I and COL II in particular were expressed at least 3 times higher in GdPO4·H2O@SiO2 compared to the PLGA. This indicates that the appropriate surface modification and functionalization of gadolinium-containing micro/nanomaterials can promote interaction with cells and encourage bone regeneration by regulating biomacromolecules and can be used in the field of biomedical materials.
Keywords: MRI; biological evaluation; bone tissue engineering; osteoblast differentiation; rare earth; surface modification.