Prefabrication of vascularized bone grafts using a combination of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and vascular bundles with β-tricalcium phosphate ceramics.
OBJECTIVE
Large bone defects are often treated with autologous vascularized bone grafts. These operations may be associated with donor site morbidities and a limited volume of harvested bone. To overcome such issues, we prefabricated vascularized bone grafts using a combination of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and vascular bundles in a β-tricalcium phosphate ceramic (β-TCP).


METHODS
We used 15 New Zealand White rabbits as our experimental animals. Single photon-emission computed tomography and histologic analyses were used to evaluate angiogenesis and new bone formation of the bone grafts.


RESULTS
The results showed that axial vessels not only promoted angiogenesis of the bone grafts, but also enhanced new bone formation.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggested that the insertion of blood vessels into tissue-engineered bone grafts was an effective strategy for enhancing angiogenesis and bone formation and had potential significance for clinical applications.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Zhiwei
Z
Dong
Bei
B
Li
Jinlong
J
Zhao
Qin
Q
Ma
Shizhu
S
Bai
Weidong
W
Yang
Guoquan
G
Li
Ge
G
Ma
Yanpu
Y
Liu
D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000473:pathology; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000098:blood supply; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D006652:Histological Techniques; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D063225:Organically Modified Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry*; D011817:Rabbits; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D063225:Organically Modified Ceramics; D014025:Titanium