Enhanced Physiological Stability and Long-Term Toxicity/Biodegradation In Vitro/In Vivo of Monodispersed Glycerolphosphate-Functionalized Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles

Monodispersed bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) have received much attention in various biomedical applications such as tissue regeneration, drug/gene delivery, bioimaging, and cancer therapy. However, the poor dispersion stability of BGNs in a physiological environment has limited their wide biomedical applications. The long-term in vitro/in vivo toxicity and biodegradation of BGNs are also not clear. Monodispersed glycerolphosphate-functionalized BGNs (GP-BGN) are synthesized and their stability under physiological environment in vitro, and long-term biodegradation behavior in vitro and in vivo are investigated herein. GP-BGN shows significantly enhanced particles stability in physiological environment, good hemocompatibility and cellular biocompatibility, as well as high cellular uptake ability. GP-BGN also exhibits long-term biodegradation behavior in vitro/in vivo and negligible biotoxicity (tissue and blood toxicity). This study demonstrates that monodispersed surface-functionalized BGNs could be used as biocompatible and biodegradable nanomaterials for long-term safe bioimaging and disease therapy.