Osteogenic capacity of transgenic flax scaffolds

The modification of flax fibers to create biologically active dressings is of undoubted scientific and practical interest. Flax fibers, derived from transgenic flax expressing three bacterial genes for the synthesis of poly-3-hydroxybutyric acid (PHB), have better mechanical properties than unmodified flax fibers; do not show any inflammation response after subcutaneous insertion; and have a good in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility. The aim of this study was to examine the applicability of composites containing flax fibers of genetically modified (M50) or non-modified (wt-Nike) flax within a polylactide (PLA) matrix for bone regeneration. For this, the mRNA expression of genes coding for growth factors (insulin-like growth factor IGF1, IGF2, vascular endothelial growth factor), for osteogenic differentiation (alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, Runx2, Phex, type 1 and type 2 collagen), and for bone resorption markers [matrix metalloproteinase 8 (MMP8), acid phosphatase type 5] were analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We found a significant elevated mRNA expression of IGF1 with PLA and PLA-wt-Nike composites. The mRNA amount of MMP8 and osteocalcin was significantly decreased in all biocomposite-treated cranial tissue samples compared to controls, whereas the expression of all other tested transcripts did not show any differences. It is assumed that both flax composites are able to stimulate bone regeneration, but composites from transgenic flax plants producing PHB showed faster bone regeneration than composites of non-transgenic flax plants. The application of these linen membranes for bone tissue engineering should be proved in further studies.