Natural biopolymers in bone tissue engineering from aquatic resources: A review

Bone tissue engineering is a rapidly expanding research area that uses an artificial scaffold as a template for new tissue formation by culturing osteoblasts, along with adding regulating factors that promote cell recruitment, growth differentiation, and mineralized bone tissue. Different natural and synthetic materials and their combinations are used for this purpose. However, polymers have many advantages to use as scaffolds in bone tissue engineering, and therefore, their application in tissue engineering has been widened in recent years. In this work, we aimed to review those natural polymers that are used in bone tissue engineering with an emphasis on those originating from natural aquatic resources. In this regard, the recent findings in the application of those natural biopolymers and their characterization viz. hydroxyapatite, starch, fibrinogen, silk fibroin, alginate, gelatin, chitosan, and collagen for use as scaffolds in bone tissue engineering were discussed.