Journal of Oral Tissue Engineering

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
 Bone Augmentation in Rat by Highly Porous β-TCP Scaffolds with Different Open-cell Sizes in Combination with Fibroblast Growth Factor-2

 Hirofumi MIYAJI1, Hiroyuki YOKOYAMA1, Yuta KOSEN1, Hiroyuki NISHIMURA2, Kazuyasu NAKANE2, Saori TANAKA1, Kaori OTANI1, Kana INOUE1, Asako IBARA1, Izumi KANAYAMA1, Takashi YOSHIDA1, Kosuke OGAWA1, Erika NISHIDA1 and Masamitsu KAWANAMI1
1Department of Periodontology and Endodontology,
Hokkaido University Graduate school of dental medicine, Sapporo, Japan
2Inoac Corporation, Nagoya, Japan
J Oral Tissue Engin 2013;10(3):172-181
SYNOPSIS
We prepared highly porous beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds with different open-cell structure sizes. The aim of this study was to examine whether the open-cell size of the scaffold affected osteoinduction in combination with fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) in rats. Polyurethane foam was immersed in β-TCP slurry and sintered in a furnace. Porous β-TCP scaffolds were prepared in three cell sizes (0.6, 0.4 and 0.3 mm) and characterized. Subsequently, each scaffold with FGF2 was implanted to rat cranial bone. Histomorphometric analyses were taken at 35 days post-surgery. The results showed that each β-TCP scaffold exhibited fully interconnected porosity, and frequently allowed bone tissue ingrowth. The 0.4-mm cell sized scaffold significantly promoted bone augmentation compared to the 0.3-mm type. Resorption of the β-TCP scaffold of 0.4-mm cell size was frequently accelerated. In conclusion, FGF2-loaded β-TCP scaffolds with 0.4-mm cell size would be effective for bone tissue engineering.

Key words: bone tissue engineering, beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), regenerative scaffold, fbroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2), open-cell structure