Prospect of Stem Cells in Bone Tissue Engineering: A Review

Table 1

Some stem cell sources for bone tissue engineering [22, 28, 29].

Cell Source	Advantages	Disadvantages
Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs)	(i) High osteogenic potential; (ii) Studied extensively	Low abundance; requires extensive in vitro expansion
Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs)	(i) Similar osteogenic characteristics as BM-MCSs; (ii) Highly abundant; easy to harvest surgically	More studies are needed to test their use in bone repair
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs)	(i) Pluripotency; (ii) Capable of differentiating into all cell types in bone	(i) Ethical and regulatory constraints; (ii) Produce teratomas when transplanted in vivo
Umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (CB-MSCs)	(i) High availability; (ii) Broad differentiation and proliferation potential; (iii) Higher in vivo safety than embryonic stem cells	(i) More difficult to be isolated than MSCs from the marrow; (ii) More studies are needed to test their use in bone repair
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)	(i) Pluripotency; (ii) Capable of differentiating into all cell types in bone	(i) Reprogramming efficiency is low; (ii) Require extensive expansion; (iii) Safety concerns; limited clinical application
Adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF)	(i) Abundant; easily harvested via liposuction; (ii) Able to form vascularized bone	(i) Cell population varies among donors; (ii) 2-3-hour multistep isolation process