Objective To investigate the osteogenesis effects of angiopoietin 1 (Ang-1) gene transfected bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) seeded on β tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds (tissue engineered bone) with platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Methods BMSCs were isolated from bone marrow tissue of rabbits. The Ang-1 gene was transfected into the BMSCs at passage 2 by lentivector, which were seeded on β-TCP scaffolds with PRP (0.5 mL) after 48 hours of transfection. Bilateral radial segmental bone defects (15 mm in length) were created in 20 3-month-old New Zealand rabbits. Then the tissue engineered bone with the Ang-1 gene transfected BMSCs (experimental group) and untransfected BMSCs (control group) were implanted into the defects in the right and left radius, respectively. X-ray, histology, immunohistochemistry, and biomechanics observations were done at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after operation. Results In vitro, the transfected rate was over 90% and RT-PCR showed that the Ang-1 expression were significantly increased after transfection. The X-ray films showed that some callus formed at 4 weeks, partial bony union was observed at 8 weeks, and complete union at 12 weeks in experimental group; and bone union was not observed at 12 weeks in control group. HE staining showed that capillary appeared at 8 weeks and more capillaries were observed in new bone at 12 weeks in experimental group; only a few capillaries were observed at 12 weeks in control group. At 8 and 12 weeks, the microvascular density were (50.1 ± 7.8) /mm2 and (66.1 ± 3.5) /mm2 in experimental group and were 0 and (30.3 ± 7.2)/mm2 in control group, showing significant differences between 2 groups at 12 weeks (Z= —2.107, P=0.031). Immunohistochemistry examination showed that the positive cells can be found at 8 weeks in experimental group. And the biomechanical analysis showed that maximum loads of experimental group were significantly higher than those of control group in three-point bending test and compression test at 12 weeks (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion The tissue engineered bone with PRP and Ang-1 can increase the osteogenic properties by enhancing capillary regeneration, thus it can be used to repair radial segmental bone defects of rabbit.
Objective To investigate the possibility of constructing eukaryoticexpression vector for human angiopoietin 1（hAng-1），transfecting it to bonemarrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) so as to repair bone defect. Methods The eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3-hAng-1 was constructed by recombinant DNA technique, transfected into MSCs by liposome DOTAP, and selected with G418. The hAng-1 expression of mRNA and protein was detected by reverse transcript-PCR and Western Blot. Results After the recombinant eukaryotic expressionvector for hAng-1 was digested with Xho-I and BamH-I, electrophoresis revealed 1.4 kb fragment for hAng-1 gene and 5.4 kb fragment for pcDNA3 vector. In the transfected MSCs, the mRNA and protein expression of hAng-1 gene were detected with reverse transcriptPCR and Western Blot. Conclusion The constructed eukaryotic expression vector hAng-1 could be expressed in the transfected MSCs, thus to provide the basis for bone repair with tissue engineering.