International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol.12, No.3, 1744-1755, 2011
Experimental Construction of BMP2 and VEGF Gene Modified Tissue Engineering Bone in Vitro
The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility and advantages of constructing a novel tissue engineering bone, using beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) and rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), modified with human bone morphogenetic protein 2 gene (hBMP2) and human vascular endothelial growth factor 165 gene (hVEGF165), through lentiviral transfection. Both genes were successfully co-expressed in the co-transfection group for up to eight weeks confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA). After seeding MSCs onto the scaffolds, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation showed that MSCs grew and proliferated well in co-transfection group at 7 and 14 days. There was no significant difference among all the groups in hoechst DNA assay for cell proliferation for 14 days after cell seeding (P > 0.05), but the highest alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was observed in the co-transfection group at 14 days after cell seeding (p < 0.01). These results demonstrated that it was advantageous to construct tissue engineering bone using beta-TCP combined with MSCs lentivirally co-transfected with BMP2 and VEGF165, providing an innovative way for treating bone defects.
Keywords:bone morphogenetic protein 2;co-transfection;lentiviral vector;tissue engineering bone;vascular endothelial growth factor;beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP)