Sustained Release of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 via Coacervate: A Novel Tissue Engineered Approach for Osteoarthritis Treatment

Category:Basic Sciences/BiologicsIntroduction/Purpose:Currently, there is no cure for osteoarthritis (OA) with treatment aimed at symptom relief and improved function. Muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) have been shown to exhibit long-term proliferation, high self-renewal, and can undergo chondrogenic differentiation when cultivated in chondrogenic medium in vitro and can differentiate into chondrocytes and repair injured articular cartilage (AC) in vivo. MDSCs retrovirally transduce to express chondrogenic proteins (BMPs) to differentiate into chondrocytes and enhance cartilage repair in vivo. Gene therapy is a promising approach to promote the chondrogenic potentials of MDSCs for AC repair. We have developed a unique sustained growth factor delivery platform comprised of native heparin and a synthetic polycation incorporated with BMP2 (BMP2 coacervate) which can sustain delivery of BMPs to stimulate the chondrogenesis of MDSCs for AC repair.Methods:MDSC were stimulated in vitro with single dose of free B...