The efficiency of muscle-derived cell-mediated bone formation

The development of new clinically applicable methods for the delivery of bo ne morphogenic protein (BMP) is an area of intensive research. Cell-mediate d gene therapy approaches are being explored as a potential delivery vehicl e. Primary muscle-derived cells isolated from an adult mouse were transduce d with an adenoviral-BMP-2 construct. These cells were injected into the tr iceps surae of severe combined immune deficient (SCID) mice where they indu ced heterotopic bone formation. BMP-2 expression by these muscle-derived ce ll constructs was measured in vitro to estimate in vivo BMP-2 delivery. In vitro expression of BMP-2 by 3 x 10(5) muscle-derived cells was 87.89 ng/72 h. These results suggest that the efficiency of muscle cell-based gene del ivery of BMP-2 exceeds the direct delivery of recombinant BMP-2 protein.