ArticleJournal of materials science. Materials in medicine2026
Surface microstructures of tricalcium phosphate regulate the autophagy of osteoclasts through the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway.
Article in Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Ceramics, including tricalcium phosphate (TCP), are widely used in bioengineering medicine due to their biocompatibility and bone conductivity. While calcium phosphate materials can induce bone formation without exogenous factors, the specific physical structures of these materials play a crucial role in their biological effects. Autophagy is involved in osteoclast proliferation, differentiation, and activation, with the MAPK signaling pathway being a key regulator of these processes. This study aimed to explore how the surface microstructures of TCP affect osteoclast function and illustrate the underlying mechanism related to autophagy. Three types of TCP disks with different surface microstructures (TCPc, TCPm, and TCPp) were prepared and characterized using scanning electron microscopy. Mouse mononuclear macrophage RAW264.7 cells were induced to differentiate into osteoclasts and cocultured with the TCP disks. Various experiments, including CCK-8 assays, MDC autophagy staining, quantitative real-time PCR, and Western blot analysis, were conducted to evaluate cell viability, autophagy activity, gene expression, and protein expression related to osteoclast function and the MAPK signaling pathway. The surface microstructures of the TCP disks significantly influenced osteoclast activity. TCPc promoted osteoclast proliferation and survival, while TCPm and TCPp inhibited osteoclast activity. The autophagosomes in the TCPm and TCPp groups were reduced, and the expression of autophagy-related proteins (Atg5, Atg7, LC3A, LC3B, Beclin-1) was lower compared to the TCPc and blank groups. The expression of osteoclast-related genes (TRAP, CTSK) was highest in the blank group, followed by the TCPc group, and lowest in the TCPm and TCPp groups. The phosphorylation levels of ERK, p38, and JNK in the TCP groups were lower than those in the blank group, indicating that TCP surface structures inhibit the MAPK signaling pathway. The study highlights the importance of material surface microstructures in bone tissue formation and suggests potential strategies for regulating bone metabolism through material design.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.