Biomimetic Strategies for Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffold Design: A Comprehensive Review

Bone is a hierarchically organized composite material with unique mechanical properties and an intrinsic capacity for regeneration. Conventional repair strategies, including autografts, allografts, xenografts, and metallic or ceramic implants, face limitations such as donor scarcity, immunogenicity, brittleness, and poor long-term integration. Tissue engineering (TE) offers a promising alternative by combining cells, scaffolds, and growth factors to restore bone structure and function. This review outlines the principles and workflow of bone TE, emphasizing scaffold design, and clinical viability. Scaffolds serve as three-dimensional, highly porous templates that support cell adhesion, nutrient diffusion, and extracellular matrix remodeling. Successful bone TE requires osteoconductive scaffolds, osteogenic progenitor cells, and osteoinductive signaling molecules to achieve physiological compatibility and functional integration. Recent advances in biomaterials, scaffold architecture, and fabrication technologies have significantly improved the ability to replicate native bone properties, positioning TE as a transformative strategy for regenerative medicine. Despite persistent challenges in achieving complete integration and mechanical stability under complex loading, ongoing research continues to optimize scaffold performance and cellular approaches, making TE a viable and cost-effective alternative to traditional bone repair techniques.