Comparison of bioengineered human bone construct from four sources of osteogenic cells

Osteoprogenitor cells have been reported to be present in periosteum, cancellous and cortical bone, and bone marrow; but no attempt to identify the best cell source for bone tissue engineering has yet been reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the growth and differentiation pattern of cells derived from these four sources in terms of cell doubling time and expression of osteoblast-specific markers in both monolayer cells and three-dimensional cell constructs in vitro. In parallel, human plasma derived-fibrin was evaluated for use as biomaterial when forming three-dimensional bone constructs. Our findings showed osteoprogenitor cells derived from periosteum to be most proliferative followed by cortical bone, cancellous bone, and then bone marrow aspirate. Bone-forming activity was observed in constructs formed with cells derived from periosteum, whereas calcium deposition was seen throughout the constructs formed with cells derived from cancellous and cortical bones. Although no mineralization activity was seen in constructs formed with osteoprogenitor cells derived from bone marrow, well-organized lacunae as would appear in the early phase of bone reconstruction were noted. Scanning electron microscopy evaluation showed cell proliferation throughout the fibrin matrix, suggesting the possible application of human fibrin as the bioengineered tissue scaffold at non-load-bearing sites.