title: A therapeutic potential for marine skeletal proteins in bone regeneration.
abstract: A vital ingredient for engineering bone tissue, in the culture dish, is the use of recombinant matrix and growth proteins to help accelerate the growth of cultivated tissues into clinically acceptable quantities. The skeletal organic matrices of calcifying marine invertebrates are an untouched potential source of such growth inducing proteins. They have the advantage of being ready-made and retain the native state of the original protein. Striking evidence shows that skeleton building bone morphogenic protein-2/4 (BMP) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) exist within various marine invertebrates such as, corals. Best practice mariculture and the latest innovations in long-term marine invertebrate cell cultivation can be implemented to ensure that these proteins are produced sustainably and supplied continuously. This also guarantees that coral reef habitats are not damaged during the collection of specimens. Potential proteins for bone repair, either extracted from the skeleton or derived from cultivated tissues, can be identified, evaluated and retrieved using chromatography, cell assays and proteomic methods. Due to the current evidence for bone matrix protein analogues in marine invertebrates, together with the methods established for their production and retrieval there is a genuine prospect that they can be used to regenerate living bone for potential clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia. dwgreen@hku.hk
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Padula
authors.forename: Jerran
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milthorpe
authors.forename: Besim
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ben-Nissan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000737:chemistry; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000737:chemistry*; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 / Q000378:metabolism; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D057894:Coral Reefs; D006801:Humans; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta