AUTHOR=Yu Hedong , Xia Lingyun , Leng Xieyuan , Chen Yongji , Zhang Li , Ni Xiaobing , Luo Jie , Leng Weidong 

TITLE=Improved repair of rabbit calvarial defects with hydroxyapatite/chitosan/polycaprolactone composite scaffold-engrafted EPCs and BMSCs

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.928041

DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2022.928041

ISSN=2296-4185

ABSTRACT=Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) expressing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) expressing endogenous bone morphogenetic protein 2(BMP-2), play the important role in new bone formation. In this study it was investigated the effects of a porous polycaprolactone (PCL) / chitosan (CS) / hydroxyapatite (HA) composite engrafted EPCs and BMSCs on expression of BMP-2, VEGF and PDGF in calvarial defect rabbit model. The results showed that PCL/CS/HA + EPCs, PCL/CS/HA + BMSCs and PCL/CS/HA + EPCs + BMSCs groups had more obvious repair effect in the eighth week compared with PCL/CS/HA group. PCL/CS/HA + EPCs + BMSCs group present especially significant improvement on the percentages of bone volume at week 4 and week 8, with obvious bone growth. Collectively, PCL/CS/HA composite scaffold engrafting EPCs and BMSCs is effective to repair bone defects through regulating endogenous expression of BMP-2, VEGF and PDGF. This study provides important implications for the potential clinical application of composite scaffold of biomaterial engrafted engineering cells.