[Green fluorescent protein as a tracer of bone marrow stromal cells in bone tissue engineering in rhesus].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the role of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in tracing rhesus bone marrow stromal cells (rBMSCs) during tissue-engineered bone formation in vivo.


METHODS
Ad5.CMV-GFP was amplified by infecting QBI-293A cells, and the bone marrow was harvested from the ilium of adult male rhesus to obtain rBMSCs, which were cultured and passaged in vitro. GFP was transfected into the third-passage rBMSCs via adenovirus vector and the labeled cells were inoculated into absorbable HA scaffold and cultured for 3 days, with untransfected rBMSCs as control, before the cell-matrix compounds were implanted into the latissimus dorsi muscles of rhesus. Samples were harvested at 6 week and embedded in paraform, and ground sections of the bone tissue were prepared to observe green fluorescence under laser scanning confocal microscope. Propidium iodide staining of the sections was also performed for observation.


RESULTS
The rBMSCs grew well after GFP transfection, and green fluorescence could be seen 24 h after the transfection and became stronger till 48 h, with a positive transfection rate beyond 80%. Six weeks after cell implantation, the rBMSCs labeled by GFP-emitted green fluorescence were detected in the bone tissue under laser scanning confocal microscope.


CONCLUSIONS
GFP can effectively trace BMSCs during bone tissue engineering, and the transplanted BMSCs constitute the main source of bone-forming cells in bone tissue engineering.
Wang
Qun-Li
QL
Department of Orthopedics, 187 Central Hospital of PLA, Haikou 571159, China.
Pei
Guo-Xian
GX
Yun
Xiong
X
Jin
Dan
D
Wei
Kuan-Hai
KH
Ren
Gao-Hong
GH
D000818:Animals; D018786:Bone Substitutes; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D014162:Transfection
D018786:Bone Substitutes; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins