Role of Inflammatory Factors in Regulation of Osteogenesis in Tissue-Engineered Bone

Abstract

It was traditionally considered that the inhibition of inflammatory reaction is necessary for osteogenesis, but the latest issue argued inflammation is unavoidable in the process of bone trauma, and physiological inflammatory reaction is essential to achieve bone formation. Tissue-engineered bone graft is not only associated with osteoblast-related cells; the inflammatory reaction is the initial physiological process, mainly with neutrophil infiltration, which secretes MCP-1, IL-8, and other chemokines and further promotes dendritic cells, lymphocytes, and mononuclear macrophages to move in. The activation pathways of macrophages have a direct effect on the outcome of the inflammatory reaction and the healing, which are divided into the classical approach (M1) and the alternative approach (M2). The M1 pathway secretes IL-1 beta, IL-6, TNF-α, and other pro-inflammatory factors, while the M2 pathway secretes arginase, IL-1Ra, IL-4, and other anti-inflammatory cytokines, also with bone-healing-related growth factors, which promote homing of bone mesenchymal stem cells (bMSCs).