Bone marrow stromal cells contribute to bone formation following infusion into femoral cavities of a mouse model of osteogenesis imperfecta.

Currently, there are conflicting data in literature regarding contribution of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) to bone formation when the cells are systemically delivered in recipient animals. To understand if BMSCs contribute to bone cell phenotype and bone formation in osteogenesis imperfecta bones (OI), MSCs marked with GFP were directly infused into the femurs of a mouse model of OI (oim). The contribution of the cells to the cell phenotype and bone formation was assessed by histology, immunohistochemistry and biomechanical loading of recipient bones. Two weeks following infusion of BMSCs, histological examination of the recipient femurs demonstrated presence of new bone when compared to femurs injected with saline which showed little or no bone formation. The new bone contained few donor cells as demonstrated by GFP fluorescence. At 6 weeks following cell injection, new bone was still detectable in the recipient femurs but was enhanced by injection of the cells suspended in pepsin solubilized type I collagen. Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical staining showed that donor GFP positive cells in the new bone were localized with osteocalcin expressing cells suggesting that the cells differentiated into osteoblasts in vivo. Biomechanical loading to failure in three point bending, revealed that, femurs infused with BMSCs in PBS or in soluble type I collagen were biomechanically stronger than those injected with PBS or type I collagen alone. Taken together, the results indicate that transplanted cells differentiated into osteoblasts in vivo and contributed to bone formation in vivo; we also speculate that donor cells induced differentiation or recruitment of endogenous cells to initiate reparative process at early stages following transplantation.