Methods: Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into three groups with ten animals (n = 10) each. The defect was either implanted with DBBM (group 1), implanted with DBBM and bone marrow stromal cells(group 2), or with DBBM and BMSCs transfected with VEGF-plasmid DNA (group 3). The hemi-mandibles were removed for radiography, histology and immunohistochemistry examination when animals were sacrificed at 4 and 12 weeks.
Results: The results demonstrated Group 2 and 3 significantly enhanced vascularization, osteogenesis and bone substitute resorption when compared to group 1. The highest degree of osteogenesis was found when the scaffold was loaded with VEGF-transfected cells (group 3), which also led to the highest vascularization and fastest resorption of scaffold.
Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the seeding of BMSCs with VEGF, may be an effective approach to augment the ability of porous scaffolds to repair mandibular defect.
Sponsored by Shanghai Pujiang Program, Grant No. 05PJ14097