XXXX -chitin materials as potential tissue engineered bone substitutes.

@entity95 @entity692 @entity619 @entity730 @entity35
@entity692 (HA) in 25%, 50% and 75% w/w fractions was incorporated into chitin solutions and processed into air- and freeze-dried materials. These HA-chitin materials were exposed to cell cultures and implanted into the intramusculature of a @entity35 model. The HA-chitin materials were found to be non-cytotoxic and degraded in vivo. The presence of the HA filler enhanced @entity730 as well as accelerated degradation of the chitin matrix. The freeze-dried HA-chitin matrixes were selected for further cell seeding experiments because of their porous nature. Mesenchymal stem cells harvested from NZW @entity95 were induced into osteoblasts in vitro using @entity619 . These osteoblasts were cultured for 1 week, statically loaded onto the porous HA-chitin matrixes and implanted into bone defects of the @entity95 femur for 2 months. Histology of explants showed bone regeneration with biodegradation of the HA-chitin matrix. Similarly, green fluorescence protein (GFP) transfected MSC-induced osteoblasts were also loaded onto porous HA-chitin matrixes and implanted into the @entity95 femur. The results from GFP-transfected MSCs showed that loaded MSCs-induced osteoblasts did not only proliferate but also recruited surrounding tissue to grow in. This study demonstrates the potential of HA-chitin matrixes as a good substrate candidate for tissue engineered bone substitute.
