Endothelial progenitor cells from peripheral blood support bone regeneration by provoking an angiogenic response.

Neovascularization is crucial for fracture healing and plays an important role in long-time graft survival in tissue engineering applications. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) can be isolated from peripheral blood avoiding donor site morbidity, which makes them attractive for autologous cell-based engineering of neovessels. However, contradictory results are published concerning the vasculogenic potential of this cell type.

Effect of gabapentin-lactam and gamma-aminobutyric acid/lactam analogs on proliferation and phenotype of ovine mesenchymal stem cells.

Purpose: Classic tissue engineering consists of three components: scaffold, cells, and growth or differentiation factors. Currently, expensive bone morphogenetic proteins are the most common substance used for hard tissue regeneration. An alternative could be gamma-aminobutyric acid/lactam (GABA-lactam) analogs.