Autogenous cultured bone graft--bone reconstruction using tissue engineering approach

Maniatopoulos et al. reported the formation of calcified bone-like tissue when rat bone marrow cells were cultured in the presence of dexamethasone and beta-glycerophosphate. We have succeeded to construct the in vitro cultured bone on the porous framework of hydroxyapatite ceramics (HA). After 2 weeks of the culture, the construct showed the existence of mineralized collagen fibers on the surface of HA determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy. The construct also demonstrated high alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity together with noticeable level of osteocalcin. The results indicate that the construct consisted of thin layer of bone matrix covered hydroxyapatite surface and abundant bone forming active osteoblasts. After the in vivo implantation of the construct, volume of the matrix increased and obvious bone tissue was detected by ordinal microscopy even one-week after implantation and its high osteogenic activity was maintained for a long term (one year). The in vivo bone is biologically active tissue evidenced by Northern blot analysis of the implanted construct which showed ALP and osteocalcin mRNA expression comparable to those of normal cancellous bone. These results demonstrate that the in vitro fabricated cultured bone/HA construct can possess new bone forming capability in in vivo situations. We have also succeeded to fabricate the construct using aged human marrow cells and the construct showed thick lamellar bone formation after the in vivo implantation. Based on these findings, we propose alternative approach for bone reconstruction surgery using the autogenous cultured bone/HA construct. Importantly, we can fabricate the implantable autogenous bone tissue derived from patient's marrow cells and the cells can be obtained by needle aspiration without damaging the patient's normal tissue.