Non-Invasive Time-Lapsed Monitoring and Quantification of Engineered Bone-Like Tissue

The formation of bone-like tissue from human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) cultured in osteogenic medium on silk fibroin scaffolds was monitored and quantified over 44days in culture using non-invasive time-lapsed micro-computed tomography (μCT). Each construct was imaged nine times insitu. From μCT imaging, detailed morphometrical data on bone volume density, surface-to-volume ratio, trabecular thickness, trabecular spacing, and the structure model index and tissue mineral density were obtained. μCT irradiation did not impact the osteogenic performance of hMSCs based on DNA content, alkaline phosphatase activity, and calcium deposition when compared to non-exposed control samples. Bone-like tissue formation initiated at day 10 of the culture with the deposition of small mineralized clusters. Tissue mineral density increased linearly over time. The surface-to-volume ratio of the bone-like tissues converged asymptotically to 26mm−1. Although in vitro formation of bone-like tissue started from clusters, the overall bone volume was not predictable from the time, number, and size of initially formed bone-like clusters. Based on microstructural analysis, the morphometry of the tissue-engineered constructs was found to be in the range of human trabecular bone. In future studies, non-invasive, time-lapsed monitoring may enable researchers to culture tissues in vitro, right until the development of a desired morphology is accomplished. Our data demonstrate the feasibility of qualitatively and quantitatively detailing the spatial and temporal mineralization of bone-like tissue formation in tissue engineerin

Remodeling of tissue-engineered bone structures in vivo

Implant design for bone regeneration is expected to be optimized when implant structures resemble the anatomical situation of the defect site. We tested the validity of this hypothesis by exploring the feasibility of generating different in vitro engineered bone-like structures originating from porous silk fibroin scaffolds decorated with RGD sequences (SF-RGD), seeded with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). Scaffolds with small (106-212μm), medium (212-300μm), and large pore diameter ranges (300-425μm) were seeded with hMSC and subsequently differentiated in vitro into bone-like tissue resembling initial scaffold geometries and featuring bone-like structures. Eight weeks after implantation into calvarial defects in mice, the in vitro engineered bone-like tissues had remodeled into bone featuring different proportions of woven/lamellar bone bridging the defects. Regardless of pore diameter, all implants integrated well, vascularization was advanced, and bone marrow ingrowth had started. Ultimately, in this defect model, the geometry of the in vitro generated tissue-engineered bone structure, trabecular- or plate-like, had no significant impact on the healing of the defect, owing to an efficient remodeling of its structure after implantation