{"id":"doi:10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103716","kind":"article","title":"<i>Achyranthes bidentata</i>-functionalized bone organoids enhance bone defect repair","authors":["Lu C","Qin X","Lin Z","Han S","Ding P","Xu L","Zheng X","Hu B","Chen F","Wu D"],"author_count":10,"year":2026,"published":"2026-09-28","venue":"Materials today. Bio","cited_by":0,"doi":"10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103716","arxiv_id":null,"nct_id":null,"source_url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103716","archive_url":"https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103716","updated":null,"pmid":"42872030","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":null,"pdf_url":null,"abstract":"Large bone defects remain difficult to reconstruct because impaired osteogenesis, dysregulated remodeling, and an unfavorable local microenvironment jointly limit durable healing. Here, we developed a translational strategy that integrates Achyranthes bidentata (AB), a traditional osteoactive botanical factor, into a BMSC-derived bone organoid platform to enhance bone regeneration. We first screened AB across a concentration gradient and identified 200 μg/mL as the selected working concentration for promoting BMSC viability, osteogenic differentiation, and matrix mineralization, whereas higher concentrations showed diminished benefit. We then incorporated AB into three-dimensional bone organoid culture to generate AB-bone organoids, which exhibited enhanced viability, increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and Alizarin Red S (ARS) staining, greater COL-I deposition, and stronger osteogenic marker expression than untreated bone organoids. Functionally, AB-bone organoids outperformed both conventional monolayer BMSCs and untreated organoids, indicating that AB establishes a more potent osteogenic niche within the organoid microenvironment. In a critical-sized calvarial defect model, implantation of AB-bone organoids significantly improved new bone formation, defect bridging, collagen matrix deposition, and osteogenic marker expression compared with untreated organoids or empty defects. As an exploratory clinical extension, we analyzed a retrospective postoperative tibial-fracture cohort and found that systemic oral AB administration was associated with shorter radiographic healing time, higher mRUST scores, lower pain, and better lower-extremity function. Together, this study identifies AB as an organoid-compatible osteoregenerative cue that functionally upgrades bone organoids and supports the translational potential of AB-based organoid engineering for bone repair.","abstract_license":"CC-BY (article license as recorded by Europe PMC; abstract reproduced unmodified apart from markup removal)","license":"CC-BY","is_open_access":false,"retracted":false,"peer_reviewed":null,"categories":[],"details":null,"provenance":"europepmc","attribution":"Abstract of \"<i>Achyranthes bidentata</i>-functionalized bone organoids enhance bone defect repair\" by Lu C, Qin X, Lin Z et al., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.103716, used under its Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY); markup removed, otherwise unmodified.","topics":[{"slug":"organoids","name":"Organoids & Organ-on-Chip","domain_slug":"biotech"}],"cited_in_dossiers":[]}