LAUSR

Abstract The ultimate goal of treatment of periodontal disease is not only to control inflammation and further to prevent development of the lesion, but also to achieve regeneration of the destroyed periodontal tissue. This study aimed to investigate the effect of lithium-calcium-silicate (Li2Ca4Si4O13, LCS) bioceramics on the cementogenic/osteogenic differentiation of human periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) and regeneration of periodontal tissue as well as the corresponding mechanism. We prepared LCS bioceramics and explored the cementogenic/osteogenic differentiation of PDLCs after cultured with LCS extracts in vitro. Meanwhile, we further studied the involvement of the Wnt/β-catenin and ERK signaling pathway during this process. In the in vivo study, the regeneration of alveolar bone defect in New Zealand white rabbits and the periodontal tissue in beagle dogs were compared by applying LCS and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). Our results showed that a certain concentration of LCS extracts could significantly stimulate cementogenic/osteogenic differentiation of PDLCs, including alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, periodontal regeneration-related gene expression, Wnt/β-catenin and ERK signaling pathway related gene expression and protein expression of PDLCs. Moreover, it was found that LCS bioceramics could significantly activate Wnt/β-catenin and ERK signaling pathway in cementogenesis/osteogenesis of PDLCs. The in vivo results suggested that LCS significantly promoted the regeneration of bone defects and periodontal defects as compared with β-TCP in rabbit and beagle dog models, in which the LCS bioceramics possess the capacity to trigger the activation of the two signaling pathway, leading to significantly improved periodontal regeneration. Our study suggests that LCS is a promising bioactive material for periodontal regeneration, consequently offering a promising treatment strategy for the treatment of periodontitis-related disease.