Bioceramic structures based on hydroxyapatite have been reported which are capable of inducing bone growth when implanted in muscle tissue and in the absence of exogenously applied growth factors. This spontaneous inductive response, which is extremely discriminating with regard to a number of material and host requirements, is triggered when the surface binds autologous osteoinductive BMPs such as BMP-7 and BMP-3 which then initiate a bone induction cascade. In this paper the response is reported for biphasic degradable substrata of hydroxyapatite -33 % tricalcium phosphate ceramic, implanted in a soft tissue primate model and where the physical distribution of co-existing phases has been manipulated. A remarkable aspect is the fact that significant and critical differences are observed in the expression of mRNA markers of bone formation according to the composition and microstructure of the bioceramic surface. The design of the ceramic substratum is shown to dramatically influence and regulate gene expression, driving the emergence of the osteogenic phenotype and the morphogenesis of bone as a secondary response.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.