Remodeling of tissue-engineered bone structures in vivo.

Implant design for bone regeneration is expected to be optimized when implant structures resemble the anatomical situation of the defect site. We tested the validity of this hypothesis by exploring the feasibility of generating different in vitro engineered bone-like structures originating from porous silk fibroin scaffolds decorated with RGD sequences (SF-RGD), seeded with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). Scaffolds with small (106-212 μm), medium (212-300 μm), and large pore diameter ranges (300-425 μm) were seeded with hMSC and subsequently differentiated in vitro into bone-like tissue resembling initial scaffold geometries and featuring bone-like structures.

Initial cell pre-cultivation can maximize ECM mineralization by human mesenchymal stem cells on silk fibroin scaffolds.

Fast remineralization of bone defects by means of tissue engineering is one of many targets in orthopedic regeneration. This study investigated the influence of a range of pre-culture durations for human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) before inducing differentiation into osteoblast-like cells. The aim was to find the conditions that lead to maximal extracellular matrix (ECM) mineralization, in terms of both amount and best distribution.

Design and validation of a novel bioreactor principle to combine online micro-computed tomography monitoring and mechanical loading in bone tissue engineering.

Mechanical loading plays an important role in bone remodeling in vivo and, therefore, has been suggested as a key parameter in stem cell-based engineering of bone-like tissue in vitro. However, the optimization of loading protocols during stem cell differentiation and subsequent bone-like tissue formation is challenged by multiple input factors, which are difficult to control and validate. These include the variable cellular performance of cells harvested from different patients, nonstandardized culture media components, the choice of the biomaterial forming the scaffold, and its morphology, impacting a broader validity of mechanical stimulation regimens.

Non-invasive time-lapsed monitoring and quantification of engineered bone-like tissue.

The formation of bone-like tissue from human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) cultured in osteogenic medium on silk fibroin scaffolds was monitored and quantified over 44 days in culture using non-invasive time-lapsed micro-computed tomography (microCT). Each construct was imaged nine times in situ. From microCT imaging, detailed morphometrical data on bone volume density, surface-to-volume ratio, trabecular thickness, trabecular spacing, and the structure model index and tissue mineral density were obtained.

Effect of scaffold design on bone morphology in vitro.

Silk fibroin is an important polymer for scaffold designs, forming biocompatible and mechanically robust biomaterials for bone, cartilage, and ligament tissue engineering. In the present work, 3D biomaterial matrices were fabricated from silk fibroin with controlled pore diameter and pore interconnectivity, and utilized to engineer bone starting from human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). Osteogenic differentiation of hMSC seeded on these scaffolds resulted in extensive mineralization, alkaline phosphatase activity, and the formation of interconnected trabecular- or cortical-like mineralized networks as a function of the scaffold design utilized; allowing mineralized features of the tissue engineered bone to be dictated by the scaffold features used initially in the cell culture process.