Abstract:

BACKGROUND: With the rapid development of bone tissue engineering in areas of bone reconstruction and repair of bone defects, how to choose and apply ideal seeded cells and extracellular matrix materials determine the success of bone tissue engineering.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the research progress of the extracellular matrix materials and seed cells in bone tissue engineering, and to introduce their merits and shortcomings, as well as the existing problems and developing trends on them in bone tissue engineering.
METHODS: Database of CNKI and Pubmed (1994-01/2009-12) were retrieved for articles about bone tissue engineering by screening the key words “bone tissue engineering, seeded cell, extracellular matrix materials” in Chinese and in English in the titles and abstracts. Articles associated with extracellular matrix materials and seed cells in bone tissue engineering were included, those published recently or in authority journals were preferred in the same field. There were 246 articles screened out after the initial survey. Then 30 articles were selected according to the inclusive criteria for the review.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The extracellular matrix materials still have some flaws, such as the degradation rates are inconsistent with bone formation rate; matrix materials induce immune responses in vivo; the source of seed cells and culture system are not fully established; the interaction between seed cells and extracellular matrix materials, especially how to increase the bioactivities and differentiation of seed cells on the matrix materials. These problems need further investigation.