Furthermore, the density and characteristics of the new mineralized tissues were normal for bone. Histological and microcomputed tomography (♜T) analyses of the calvaria defect sites treated with CEMP1 showed that after 16 weeks, hrCEMP1 is able to induce 97% regeneration of the defect.
In order to address the possibility that CEMP1 can be used to regenerate other types of bone, experiments were designed to test the effect of hrCEMP1 in the repair/regeneration of a rat calvaria critical-size defect. A novel protein, Cementum Protein 1 (CEMP1), has recently been shown to promote regeneration of periodontal tissues.
While localized delivery of osteogenic factors like BMPs is attractive for promotion of bone regeneration method of delivery, dosage and side effects could limit this approach.
Gene therapy approaches to bone and periodontal tissue engineering are being widely explored.
