Hydrogel for sustained and localized delivery of a regulatory T cell-inducing agent promotes bone regeneration.

AS2863619-loaded collagen hydrogels, especially with laponite nanoparticles, promote dose-dependent regulatory T cell activation and enhance bone regeneration in a calvarial bone-defect model.

• Why it matters: Local T reg activation could improve wound repair, but adoptive T reg therapies require ex vivo expansion and reinfusion, limiting tissue specificity and scalability.
• What they did: The team engineered collagen hydrogels that incorporate AS2863619 above its solubility limit to reduce burst release and extend release half-life, further slowing release with laponite nanoparticles. They assessed T reg induction via Foxp3 stabilization in CD4+ T cells and tested outcomes in calvarial bone defects.
• The result: In the calvarial model, AS-loaded hydrogels induced dose-dependent T reg activation, reduced pro-inflammatory macrophage responses, and enhanced bone regeneration, with AS-laponite hydrogels achieving complete defect bridging in some cases.

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