Investigation of a thermoplastic polymeric carrier for bone tissue engineering using allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells in granular scaffolds.

The purpose of this project was to compare alveolar bone repair by allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells using bioglass or synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA)/tricalcium phosphate (TCP) granular scaffolds delivered in a thermoplastic polymeric carrier.Canine mesenchymal stem cells were obtained from iliac crest bone marrow of beagle dogs and expanded without differentiation. Cells were resuspended at a final concentration of 5 x 10(6) cells/ml in a thermoplastic polymeric carrier (30% w/v Pluronic F-127) and mixed with an equal volume of synthetic HA/TCP or bioglass scaffold and placed into surgically created 5 mm cylindrical defects in the edentulous premolar region of beagle dogs. After 4 weeks or 7 weeks, tissue healing was evaluated by standard histomorphometric methods (Bioquant Nova, Bioquant Image Analysis Corporation, Nashville, TN) by measurement of bone formation within five random sites from each biopsy.After 4 weeks, sites treated with or without mesenchymal stem cells contained 58.25 +/-18.43% or 43.35 +/- 17.68% bone area (p= 0.049), respectively. After 7 weeks, sites treated with or without mesenchymal stem cells contained 62.73 +/- 19.10% or 60.39 +/- 21.32% bone area. Bone formation occurred without inflammation in defects treated using Pluronic F-127 carrier with and without mesenchymal stem cells. There was no difference in percent bone area when bioglass or HA/TCP scaffolds were compared at either time point.The thermoplastic polymeric carrier did not limit alveolar bone repair in the canine mandible. The combination of a thermoplastic, viscous carrier with a granular scaffold allowed for the delivery of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells in a clinically manageable form that enhanced bone formation at early stages of alveolar repair.