A novel three-dimensional (3D) nanofibrous bioactive glass (BG) scaffold was prepared via a template assisted sol-gel route using a 3D bacterial cellulose aerogel as the template followed by calcination. SEM and TEM results revealed that the as-prepared BG nanofibers had a diameter as small as 16 nm and the BG scaffold had a 3D interconnected porous structure. The in vitro bioactivity test confirmed that the BG nanofibrous scaffold was highly bioactive. The strategy presented in this work may open a new avenue for the development of tissue engineering scaffolds with fine inorganic (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.