NEW GENERATION OF ORTHOPEDIC MIMETIC BIOCERAMICS ASSAYED WITH HUMAN MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS

Developing of functionally active human tissues in vitro, or inducing their regeneration in vivo, are prerequisite for regenerative medicine applications. The effectiveness of orthopedic surgical procedures often fall into clinical problems related to the availability of bone allograft or substitutes, thus engineering of bone tissue plays a prominent role in applied research to this field. Recently research focused its attention to the development of biomaterials which exhibit two main features: the capability (i) of making available a favorable cellular environment and (ii) of inducing precursor bone cell proliferation and differentiation, to develop bone tissue. In such context, calcium and phosphate-based substitutes have led to the constitution of a new class of biomaterials termed “bioceramics”. Assaying of bioceramics bone substitutes features employing mesenchymal stem cellular models represent an important tool for understanding the interaction between engineered matrices and osteoblast precursors, as well as their involvement in modulation of developmental processes