Recent Advances in Enhancement Strategies for Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Bone Tissue Engineering

Although bone is an organ that displays potential for self-healing after damage, bone regeneration does not occur properly in some cases, and it is still a challenge to treat large bone defects. The development of bone tissue engineering provides a new approach to the treatment of bone defects. Among various cell types, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent one of the most promising seed cells in bone tissue engineering due to their functions of osteogenic differentiation, immunomodulation, and secretion of cytokines. Regulation of osteogenic differentiation of MSCs has become an area of extensive research over the past few years. This review provides an overview of recent research progress on enhancement strategies for MSC osteogenesis, including improvement in methods of cell origin selection, culture conditions, biophysical stimulation, crosstalk with macrophages and endothelial cells, and scaffolds. This is favorable for further understanding MSC osteogenesis and the development of MSC-based bone tissue engineering.