Non-viral gene therapy for bone tissue engineering

Gene Therapy for Bone Engineering

Bone has an intrinsic healing capacity that may be exceeded when the fracture gap is too big or unstable. In that moment, osteogenic measures need to be taken by physicians. It is important to combine cells, scaffolds and growth factors, and the correct mechanical conditions. Growth factors are clinically administered as recombinant proteins. They are, however, expensive and needed in high supr...

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) Nanofibers for Bone Tissue Engineering

Aligned and random nanofibrous nanocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Aligned and random nanocomposite nanofibrous scaffolds were electrospun from polycaprolactone (PCL), poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHA). The morphology and mechanical characteristics of the nanofibers were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy and tensile testing, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy revealed fibers with an average diameter of 123 ± 3...

Bone tissue engineering and repair by gene therapy.

Many clinical conditions require the stimulation of bone growth. The use of recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins does not provide a satisfying solution to these conditions due to delivery problems and high cost. Gene therapy has emerged as a very promising approach for bone repair that overcomes limitations of protein-based therapy. Several preclinical studies have shown that gene transfer t...

Hydroxyapatite from Fish for Bone Tissue Engineering: A Promising Approach

Natural or synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) has been frequently used as implant materials for orthopaedic and dental applications, showing excellent bioactivity, adequate mechanical rigidity and structure, osteoconductivity and angiogenic properties, no toxicity, and absence of inflammatory or antigenic reactions. HA can be easily synthesized or extracted from natural sources, such as bovine bone....