Ordered structures with Schottky heterojunction functional unit regulate immune response and osteogenesis

Mimicking the electric microenvironment of natural tissue is a promising strategy for developing biomedical implants. However, current research has not taken biomimetic electrical functional units into consideration when designing biomedical implants. In this research, ordered structures with Schottky heterojunction functional unit (OSSH) were constructed on titanium implant surfaces for bone regeneration regulation. The Schottky heterojunction functional unit is composed of periodically distributed titanium microdomain and titanium oxide microdomain with different carrier densities and surface potentials. The OSSH regulates the M2-type polarization of macrophages to a regenerative immune response by activating the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signal pathway and further promotes osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. This work provides fundamental insights into the biological effects driven by the Schottky heterojunction functional units that can electrically modulate osteogenesis.