Good bioactivity and osteogenesis of three-dimensional porous alginate scaffolds (PAS) are critical for bone tissue engineering. In this work, alginate and bone-forming peptide-1 (BFP-1), derived from bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7), have been combined together (without carbodiimide chemistry treatment) to develop peptide-incorporated PAS (p-PAS) for promoting bone repairing ability. The mechanical properties and SEM images show no difference between pure PAS and p-PAS. The release kinetics of the labeled peptide with 6-carboxy tetramethyl rhodamine from the PAS matrix suggests that the peptide is released in a relatively sustained manner. In the cell experiment, p-PAS show higher cell adhesion, spreading, proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity than the pristine PAS group, indicating that the BFP-1 released from p-PAS could significantly promote the aggregation and differentiation of osteoblasts, especially at 10 mu g/mL of trapped peptide concentration (p-PAS-10). Furthermore, p-PAS-10 was implanted into Beagle calvarial defects and bone regeneration was analyzed after 4 weeks. New bone formation was assessed by calcein and Masson's trichrome staining. The data reveal that p-PAS group exhibits significantly enhanced oseto-regenerative capability in vivo. The peptide-modified PAS with promoted bioactivity and osteogenic differentiation in vitro as well as bone formation ability in vivo could be promising tissue engineering materials for repairing and regeneration of bone defects. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.