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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Fortified trabeculae-like biomimetic bone-filling material organoids for repair of weight-bearing bone defects
Chong Yin1,2 ,
Xingyu Wang2 ,
Jing Zhang2 ,
Yang Yu3 ,
Linfeng Liu2 ,
Hongqi Han2 ,
Guilin Luo2 ,
Zhuo Guo2 ,
Yingying Luo2 ,
Conghui Jiang2 ,
Ye Tian4 ,
Rui Pang2 ,
Jingxiang Li2 ,
Wei Chen5* ,
Bing Yang6* ,
Xundong Deng4* ,
Bing Guo1,2* ,
Guangrong Wang1,2*
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1 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan,
China
2 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Translational Medicine Research Center, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan,
China
3 Department of Medical and Nursing Science, International School, Krirk University, Bangkok,
Thailand
4 Lab for Bone Metabolism, Xi’an Key Laboratory of Special Medicine and Health Engineering, Key Lab for Space Biosciences and Biotechnology, Research Center for Special Medicine and Health Systems Engineering, NPU-UAB Joint Laboratory for Bone Metabolism, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi,
China
5 Xinjiang Hua Shidan Drug Research Co., Urumqi, Xinjiang,
China
6 Department of Public Health, International School, Krirk University, Bangkok,
Thailand
Received: 11 March 2026 | Revised: 5 June 2026 | Accepted: 11 June 2026 | Published online: 30 June 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract
Repairing critical-sized bone defects remains challenging, and many synthetic fillers trade mechanical stability against bioactivity. In this study, a novel bone tissue-filling material was designed and synthesized. Based on a previously described trabeculae‑like biomimetic bone-filling material (TBM), mammoth tusk dentin was incorporated into this material, which endowed it with enhanced mechanical properties. We designated this material as fortified TBM (FTBM). FTBM demonstrated favorable mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and sustained drug-release capacity, thereby improving osteogenesis. In addition, human mesenchymal stem cells were encapsulated within the scaffold, resulting in a cell-laden biomaterial. Its efficacy in repairing bone defects was superior to the original TBM. This high‑hardness bone-filling material offers a strategy to enhance the mechanical stability of trabeculae-like fillers, warranting evaluation in load-bearing models.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
Bone-filling material
Mammoth tusk dentin
Osteogenesis
Bone defect
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82272436, 32371371), the Science and Technology Innovation Talent Program of Xinjiang Tianshan Talented Youth Top Talent Project, the Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (2022D01F49), the Clinical Research Program of Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College (2021LC008), the North Sichuan Medical College Innovation Team (Natural Science: CBYTD-2025A04), the Doctoral Research Startup Fund Project of the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College (BS10001, CBY19-QD01), and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship project of North Sichuan Medical College (XJ202510634159, XJ202510634155, XJ202510634157, XJ202510634153, XJ202510634151).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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