title: A comparative analysis of the osteogenic effects of BMP-2, FGF-2, and VEGFA in a calvarial defect model.
abstract: The utilization of growth factors for bone regeneration is a widely studied field. Since the approval of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) for therapeutic use in humans, the concept of utilizing growth factors for bone regeneration in translational medicine has become even more attractive. Despite many studies published on individual growth factors in various bone models, comparative analysis is largely lacking. The aim of our study was to compare three different proosteogenic factors under identical in vivo conditions. Thus, we tested the bone regeneration capacity of the three different growth factors BMP-2, fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) in a calvarial defect model. We demonstrated that BMP-2 and VEGFA had similar bone healing capacities, resulting in complete calvarial healing as early as week 3. FGF-2 also showed a significantly higher bone regeneration capacity; however, the healing rate was lower than with BMP-2 and VEGFA. Interestingly, these findings were paralleled by an increased angiogenic response upon healing in BMP-2- and VEGFA-treated calvarial defects as compared with FGF-2. Immunohistochemistry for proliferating and osteoprogenitor cells revealed activity at different points after surgery among the groups. In conclusion, we demonstrated an efficient bone regeneration capacity of both BMP-2 and VEGFA, which was superior to FGF-2. Moreover, this study highlights the efficient bone regeneration of VEGFA, which was comparable with BMP-2. These data provide a valuable comparative analysis, which can be used to further optimize growth factor-based strategies in skeletal tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Children's Surgical Research Program, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5148, USA.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Behr
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sorkin
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lehnhardt
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Renda
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Longaker
authors.forename: Natalina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Quarto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D012886:Skull / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000293:injuries*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2