(173d) Calcium Phosphate Shell Delivery System for Bone Repair

Calcium phosphate nanoshells which we have been developing in our laboratory are unique biodegradable carriers for drug and genes expressly designed for the purposes of bone repair. The unique chemical structure of calcium phosphate nanomaterials allows these materials to be taken up by osteoblast cells in culture and increases bone deposition by nearly 40%. Combined with fluorescent labels they are also a powerful imaging tool to track the migration of nanoparticle in the cell and can be used to elucidate the site and mechanism of nanoparticle biodegradation and assimilation. The hollow water filled core of these materials can be filled with a wide range of drugs and nucleic acid for gene delivery and expression. We have observed that these materials are preferentially moved toward the nucleus, though the mechanism by which this occurs is not yet fully understood.