ABSTRACT
At variance with cartilage, bone displays an important potential of self-repair and regeneration. In vivo and in physiological conditions, this process occurs through stricdy regulated sequences of cellular events. Successful replacement of bone through tissue engineering likely will be dependent on the recapitulation of this cascade of events. Bone re generation in fact requires the cross-talk between microenvironmental factors and cells, where mesenchymal progenitor cells are recruited and properly guided by soluble signalling mol ecules and extracellular matrix. Tissue engineered bone repair have attempted to mimic this natural setting by delivering a source of cells capable of differentiating into osteoblasts, induc tive growth factors, and bioresorbable scaffolding matrices to support cellular attachment, mi gration, proliferation and fate. Engineered tissue repair may in fact be viewed as the restoration of form and function to injured bone as well as to other tissues. The manipulation of these elements for therapeutic purposes might become common clinical practice.
