The satisfactory treatment of cartilage damage is an unsolved problem to date. Using genetically engineered cartilage cells offers new therapeutic strategies. Based on a rabbit model we analyzed BMP2-stimulated tissue after in vitro and in vivo growth by qRT-PCR. The vector systems used were a non-viral vector named "hBMP2-COPROG" and a VSV.G-pseudotyped MoMLV retroviral vector named "hBMP2-pBullet".
Stimulation by hBMP2-pBullet caused increasing cell proliferation and improved quality of the formed cartilage up to twelve weeks after implantation. Our analyses however identified more hypertrophic characteristics of the chondrocytes. In contrast, stimulation with hBMP2-COPROG vector showed to be insufficient in the long-term stimulation and did not improve quality of regenerated cartilage.
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