Bone Regeneration in Craniofacial Reconstruction with Particulate Grafts Obtained Through Tissue Engineering

Abstract

This research was developed in order to evaluate bone regeneration induced by grafts obtained through tissue engineering. Tissue engineering is an in vitro method used to obtain cell-based osteoinductive particulate bone grafts. This study evaluated the feasibility of creating engineered bone tissue using mesenchymal cells seeded on a particulate scaffold obtained from the deciduous red deer antler and the osteoconductive, osteoinductive, and osteogenetic potential of these grafts. We have chosen mesenchymal stem cells because they are easy to harvest and are capable of differentiating into cells of mesenchymal origin (osteoblasts) and producing tissue such as bone. As a scaffold we have chosen the red deer antler because it has a high level of porosity. We conducted a case control study on three groups of type CD1 mice: two study groups (n = 60) and one control group (n = 30). Bone defects were surgically induced on the left parietal bone of all subjects. In the control group we did not graft the bone defects. Subjects were sacrificed at 2 and 4 months, and the healing process was morphologically and histologically evaluated using descriptive histology and histometry. Grafts obtained in vitro through tissue engineering using adult stem cells seeded on the scaffold obtained from the red deer antler using an osteogenic medium have proven their osteogenic properties.

Keywords:

• bone regeneration
• particulate biomaterials
• stem cells
• tissue engineering

The authors would like to acknowledge the Translational Core Pathology Laboratory, University of California, Los Angeles, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Tigan, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Romania, for their assistance.