Bioresorbable and functionally graded apatites (fg-HAp) ceramics, which are characterized by gradations in crystallinity and the grain size of hydroxyapatite (HAp:Ca-10(PO4)(6)(OH)(2)), were designed using bovine bone by the calcination and partial dissolution-precipitation method. The fg-HAp ceramics had macropores of 100-600 mu m originated from spongy bone, and micropores of 10-160 nm. Fg-HAp ceramics loaded with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2/fg-HAp) were implanted into the subcutaneous tissue of rats. Eight weeks after the implantation, the surface and bulk degradations of the fg-HAp-containing body fluid occured, and small pieces of fg-HAp were incorporated into the induced bone and fatty marrow, suggesting that osteoinduction occurred in conjunction with bone remodeling. The rhBMP-2/fg-HAp ceramics developed could become a resorbable biomimetic material with fast bioresorption and osteoinduction characteristics.