Biomaterials in Gene Therapy for Soft and Hard Tissues

Bone healing and formation are under the control of growth factors. Among these factors, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have a vital role in bone and cartilage maintenance and formation. BMP itself belongs to the superfamily of transforming growth factor β (TGFβ). Although, the use of recombinant BMPs has no significant association with the treatment of bone fractures, arthroplasty, pseudoarthrosis or other bone-related diseases. Recent advancements in genetic engineering have led to the foundation of gene therapy. Gene therapy uses genes to be incorporated in the living cells to replace defective genes or manipulate gene expression for therapeutic purposes. Gene therapy is emerging for the treatment of diseases with approval in Europe where it is in the marketing surveillance phase (Phase IV Clinical trial). This technique has also been tested for the incorporation of osteogenic genes in stem cells for repairing spinal fusion and recovering defects in bones in preclinical models. Therefore, gene therapy has the potential for the treatment of different diseases and has the advantage over the use of recombinant proteins. In this chapter, we have discussed gene therapy, its mechanism, delivery system and its use in tissue engineering (soft and bone tissue) for clinical application.

Keywords: Gene Delivery, Gene Therapy, Scaffolds, Polymeric Composites.