Endowing osteoinduction ability with honeycomb scaffolds

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K22970
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 90:Biomedical engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Hayashi Koichiro 九州大学, 歯学研究院, 准教授 (80580886)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: ハニカム / スキャフォールド / 骨誘導

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Scaffolds capable of inducing ectopic osteogenesis (i.e., osteoinduction) have the potential to treat congenital and massive bone defects. However, the mechanisms underlying osteoinduction remain elusive, largely because of rapid tissue changes occurring early in the process. Amodel with decelerated osteoinduction is, therefore, needed. Here, we developed carbonate apatite honeycomb scaffolds capable of osteoinduction in rabbit muscle, which inherently exhibits minimal osteoinduction. The key events observed were: (1) fibrin accumulation in scaffolds atweek 1; (2) appearance of TRAP- and RAM11-positive cells and formation of collagen fibers and blood vessels between weeks 2 and 3; (3) appearance of osteocalcin-positive cells and decrease in the number of TRAP-positive cells between weeks 3 and 4; (4) continuous proliferation of osteocalcin-positive cells at postoperativeweek 4 and formation of osteoid and mineralized tissues at weeks 8 and 12, respectively.

Free Research Field

生体材料学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究はこれまで未解明であった骨誘導のキーイベントを組織学的に解明した。この成果は高い骨誘導能を有する材料の開発、さらには先天性骨欠損および大規模骨欠損の治療に貢献するものである。
また、本研究で開発したハニカムスキャフォールドは、骨誘導が生じにくいウサギにおいても骨誘導を引き起こした。この結果は、ハニカムスキャフォールドはこれまでは不可能であった大規模骨欠損の再建を可能にしうることを示唆している。