Treatment of bone defect, especially large bone defect, is still a challenge for physicians clinically. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) can induce osteoblast differentiation and promote new bone formation. Recently, nanomaterials have been widely used as a carrier to hold and deliver biomolecules, like human bone morphogenetic protein 2 gene (hBMP-2) in target cells/tissues. Most nanomethods, however, need further modification in order to work more reliably in clinical applications. Therefore, in this study, we created a novel poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid [PLGA]) nanofibrous scaffold using an electrospinning technique; then, using a lyophilization process to allow nanofibrous scaffold to adsorb hBMP-2 adenoviral vector, AdCMV-hBMP2. Results indicate that the lyophilized poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanofibrous scaffold/AdCMVhBMP2 can efficiently release and transduce cells in vitro and in vivo, and secrete functional hBMP-2 to promote osteogenic differentiation in vitro, and new bone generation in vivo. Importantly, the amount of newly formed bone covered >80% of the bone defect area 8 weeks post-implantation in vivo, in which the defect could not be repaired without any treatment in general. Our data demonstrate that the lyophilized PLGA nanofibrous scaffold/AdCMV-hBMP2 created herein stably and efficiently release functional viral vector to transduce local cells, resulting in secretion of hBMP-2 and promote new bone formation in vivo. Our new nanodelivery method has potential clinical application for the repair of large bone defects.
Keywords: Bone Formation; PLGA Nanofibrous Scaffold; hBMP-2; Osteogenic Differentiation; Adenoviral Vector.