Enhancement of In Vivo Bone Regeneration Efficacy of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

We investigated whether transplantation of osteogenically differentiated bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and the use of an hydroxyapatite (HAp) scaffold can enhance the in vivo bone formation efficacy of human BMMSCs. Three months after implantation to the subcutaneous dorsum of athymic mice, transplantation of osteogenically differentiated human BMMSCs increased the bone formation area and calcium deposition to 7.1- and 6.2-folds, respectively, of those of transplantation of undifferentiated BMMSCs. The use of the HAp scaffold increased the bone formation area and calcium deposition to 3.7- and 3.5-folds, respectively, of those of a polymer scaffold. Moreover, a combination of transplantation of osteogenically differentiated BMMSCs and HAp scaffold further increased the bone formation area and calcium deposition to 10.6- and 9.3-folds, respectively, of those of transplantation of undifferentiated BMMSCs seeded onto polymer scaffolds. The factorial experimental analysis showed that osteogenic differentiation of BMMSCs prior to transplantation has a stronger positive effect than the HAp scaffold on in vivo bone formation.