Xeno-Hybrid Bone Graft Releasing Biomimetic Proteins Promotes Osteogenic Differentiation of hMSCs.

Bone defect is a noteworthy health problem and is the second most transplanted tissue after blood. Numerous bone grafts are designed and applied in clinics. Limitations, however, from different aspects still exist, including limited supply, mechanical strength, and bioactivity. In this study, two biomimetic peptides (P2 and P6) are incorporated into a composite bioactive xeno hybrid bone graft named SmartBonePep ^® , with the aim to increase the bioactivity of the bone graft. The results, which include cytotoxicity, proliferation rate, confocal microscopy, gene expression, and protein qualification, successfully prove that the SmartBonePep ^® has multi-modal biological effects on human mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow. The effective physical entrapment of P6 into a composite xeno-hybrid bone graft, withstanding manufacturing processes including exposure to strong organic solvents and ethylene oxide sterilization, increases the osteogenic potential of the stem cells as well as cell attachment and proliferation. P2 and P6 both show a strong biological potential and may be future candidates for enhancing the clinical performance of bone grafts.
Competing Interests: The rights for SmartBone® and SmartBonePep® patents and trademarks belong to Industrie Biomediche Insubri S.A. (Switzerland). GP is a founding shareholder and the executive vice president of Industrie Biomediche Insubri S.A. (Switzerland), the company that fully owns all IPRs (US Patent US8367602B2, PCT/IB2007/004068, EP Patent EP2358407B1, and related bundles) on SmartBone® and SmartBonePep® and their trademarks. FB works as employee for the same company. FB was employed by the company Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH). HH and SL was part time employed by the company Corticalis AS. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2020 Zhu, Blahnová, Perale, Xiao, Betge, Boniolo, Filová, Lyngstadaas and Haugen.)