Delivery of rhBMP-2 plasmid DNA complexes via a PLLA/collagen electrospun scaffold induces ectopic bone formation

The development of effective strategies for gene delivery is a critical goal in DNA-based tissue engineering. Previously, our laboratory utilized the process of electrospinning to fabricate plasmid DNA-based polymeric scaffolds. Although the release of DNA was robust, the in vitro transfection efficiency was low. In order to optimize these results, we recently modified our approach and utilized a strategy to adsorb plasmid DNA transfection complexes onto a PLLA/Collagen I electrospun scaffold for the delivery of recombinant human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (rhBMP-2). BMP-2 was selected since it is currently clinically used to stimulate osteogenesis. Initially, we tested this approach using β-gal plasmid DNA complexes adsorbed onto PLLA/Collagen I scaffolds and obtained a transfection efficiency of 41% of that of the positive control (over 90%, DNA complexes in solution). Next, we utilized the same approach using the rhBMP-2 plasmid DNA complexes with the pre-osteoblastic cell line, MC3T3, and detected robust (13-fold) expression of rhBMP-2 mRNA following transfection. Lastly, a mouse muscle pouch model was used to evaluate in vivo gene delivery efficacy and ectopic bone inducing capability of the scaffold adsorbed rhBMP-2 transfection complexes. Results showed that both rhBMP-2 mRNA and protein were expressed and stimulated some ectopic bone formation. As such, adsorption of plasmid DNA complexes can be an effective strategy for tissue engineering in vivo, but further research is required to optimize our approach and obtain a clinically meaningful tissue response.