The matrix of endochondral bone differs from the matrix of intramembranous bone

Abstract

Osseous tissue develops via two distinctly different processes: endochondral (EC) ossification and intramembranous (IM) ossification. The present study tests the hypothesis that each type of osseous tissue contains unique inducing factors for the promotion of cartilage and bone development. Previous work suggests that subcutaneous implants of demineralized EC and IM bone matrices both induce endochondral ossification. Thus, it concludes that the bone growth promotion properties of the respective matrices are very similar. As it was unclear to us why EC and IM bone powders should possess identical osteoinductive properties, we attempted to reproduce these results. We implanted EC (femoral) demineralized bone matrix (DBM), IM (frontal) DBM, or a mixture of the two into the ventral thoracic subcutaneous tissue of 12 to 15-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats. Morphological and radiolabeling techniques in this study demonstrated that implants of EC bone matrix induce bone formation via EC ossification in contrast to implants of IM bone matrix which do not induce EC ossification. Our findings suggest that the matrix of EC bone differs qualitatively from the matrix of IM bone due to their respective abilities to induce cartilage and/or bone formation. These observations differ from those previously reported possibly because our IM DBM preparations were not contaminated with tissues of endochondral origin. In current clinical practice, EC DBM allografts are often used to induce new bone formation in defects involving both IM and EC bone. We conclude that there may be clinical settings in which it would be more appropriate to replace bone originally formed via IM ossification with IM DBM rather than EC DBM.

BMPs induce endochondral ossification in rats when implanted ectopically within a carrier made of fibrous glass membrane

“…Scott and her colleagues suggested that osteoinductive proteins from intramembranous bones could induce direct bone formation without catilage, whereas ones from endochondral bones could cause endochondral ossification (Scott and Hightower, 1991;Scott et al, 1994). In contrast, we suggest that BMPs from endochondral bone can induce either direct or endochondral bone formation, depending on the physicochemical property of the carrier.…”

Local Intraoral Autologous Bone Harvesting for Dental Implant Treatment: Alternative Sources and Criteria of Choice

“…These include the bone's embryologic origin, morphology, cytological constituents, and biochemical composition of the extracellular matrix. 6 Although detailed review of each of these properties is beyond the scope of this report, further discussion of the embryologic origin of donor bone is warranted. The development of any given bone proceeds along one of the two general pathways, either endochondral or intramembranous ossification.…”

Endochondral Ossification for Enhancing Bone Regeneration: Converging Native Extracellular Matrix Biomaterials and Developmental Engineering In Vivo

“…There exist compositional differences in bone ECM originating from IM sources during fetal development (e.g., cranium) and EC sources (e.g., femur). 44 Furthermore, DBM originating from IM and EC bone have been shown in a series of studies by Rabie et al 28,[30][31][32] to elicit different healing pathways during regeneration of parietal bone defects in New Zealand White Rabbits. The parietal bone is formed by IM ossification during fetal development, 44 Implanted subcutaneously in nude mice.…”