Ectopic osteogenesis of an injectable nHAC/CSH loaded with blood-acquired mesenchymal progenitor cells in a nude mice model

An injectable bone cement, nHAC/CSH, which consists of nano-hydroxyapatite/collagen (nHAC) and calcium sulphate hemihydrate (CaSO 4 .½H 2 O; CSH) was investigated as a tissue-engineered scaffold material with blood-acquired mesenchymal progenitor cells (BMPCs) as seeding cells. An in vitro study on the cytocompatability of nHAC/CSH and an in vivo study on the ectopic bone formation of nHAC/CSH loaded with dBMPCs were both conducted. The dBMPCs morphology, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis assays were conducted using the direct contact and extract method. The cells tests exhibited normal growth and bioactive function in vitro. Studies in vivo showed that this injectable tissue engineered bone (ITB) formed bone structure in the heterotopic site of nude mice. These findings indicate that the ITB composed of nHAC/CSH and dBMPCs may represent a useful strategy for clinical reconstruction of irregular bone defects.