Potentiated Osteoinductivity via Cotransfection with BMP-2 and VEGF Genes in Microencapsulated C2C12 Cells

Microcapsules with entrapped cells hold great promise for repairing bone defects. Unfortunately, the osteoinductivity of microcapsules has been restricted by many factors, among which the deficiency of functional proteins is a significant priority. We potentiated the osteoinductivity of microencapsulated cells via cotransfection with BMP-2 and VEGF genes. Various tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells and cell lines were compared for BMP-2 and VEGF cotransfection. Ethidium bromide (EB)/Calcein AM staining revealed that all of the cell categories could survive for 4 weeks after microencapsulation. An ELISA assay indicated that all microencapsulated BMP-2 or VEGF transfected cells could secrete gene products constitutively for 1 month. Particularly, the recombinant microencapsulated C2C12 cells released the most desirable level of BMP-2 and VEGF. Further experiments demonstrated that microencapsulated BMP-2 and VEGF cotransfected C2C12 cells generated both BMP-2 and VEGF for 4 weeks. Additionally, the cotransfection of BMP-2 and VEGF in microencapsulated C2C12 cells showed a stronger osteogenic induction against BMSCs than individual BMP-2-transfected microencapsulated C2C12 cells. These results demonstrated that the cotransfection of BMP-2 and VEGF into microencapsulated C2C12 cells is of potent utility for the potentiation of bone regeneration, which would provide a promising clinical strategy for cellular therapy in bone defects.