Basic fibroblast growth factor lentiviral vector-transfected sheep bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and...

In the present study, sheep bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) were transfected with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-lentivirus in order to investigate the influence of bFGF on osteogenic gene expression. bFGF‑transfected BMSCs (experimental group) and non-transfected BMSCs (control group) were also transfected with a green fluorescent protein gene in order to measure the transfection efficiency of the (bFGF)-lentivirus using flow cytometry. Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays, the changes in expression from three genes (osteopontin, OPN; osteocalcin, OC; and collagen-I) in BMSCs from the experimental and control groups were measured. Transfection efficiency was 87.3% in the experimental group and 1.1% in the control group. OPN gene expression was high in BMSCs from the experimental group. However, there was no significant difference in OPN expression between BMSCs from the control and experimental group (P>0.05). Collagen-I expression was significantly lower in the experimental group compared with that in the control groups (P<0.05). By contrast, OC expression was significantly higher in BMSCs from the experimental group compared with that in the control group (P<0.05). Changes in osteogenic gene expression indicated that the BMSCs from the experimental group had better osteogenic ability, as compared with the control cells. Therefore, bFGF-transfected cells may be useful seed cells for bone tissue engineering.