Sustained delivery of vascular endothelial growth factor from mesoporous calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite microparticles promotes in vitro angiogenesis and osteogenesis.

Promoting the growth of blood vessels within engineered tissues remains one of the main challenge in bone tissue engineering. One way to improve angiogenesis is the use of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as it holds the ability to increase the formation of a vascular network. In the present study, collagen scaffolds with VEGF-releasing hydroxyapatite particles were fabricated, in order to engineer a material both capable of presenting an osteoconductive surface and delivering an angiogenic growth factor in a localized and sustained manner, in order to enhance osteogenesis as well as angiogenesis.