Restoration of critical-sized defects in the rabbit mandible using autologous bone marrow stromal cells hybridized with nano- β-tricalcium phosphate/collagen scaffolds

Abstract

Nano-β-tricalcium phosphate/collagen (n-β-TCP/Col) is considered with good osteoconductivity. However, the therapeutic effectiveness of n-β-TCP/Col scaffolds in combination with autologous bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) remains to be elucidated for the repair of critical-sized bone defects. In this study, we found that n-β-TCP/Col scaffolds exhibited high biocompatibility in vitro. The introduction of BMSCs expanded in vitro to the scaffolds dramatically enhanced their efficiency to restore critical-sized bone defects, especially during the initial stage after implantation. Collectively, these results suggest that autologous BMSCs in n-β-TCP/Col scaffolds have the potential to be applied in bone tissue engineering. © 2013 Xuehui Zhang et al.