A comparative study of tissue-engineered constructs from Acropora and Porites coral in a large animal bone defect model

To compare the therapeutic potential of tissue-engineered constructs (TECs) combining mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and coral granules from either Acropora or Porites to repair large bone defects.Bone marrow-derived, autologous MSCs were seeded on Acropora or Porites coral granules in a perfusion bioreactor. Acropora-TECs (n = 7), Porites-TECs (n = 6) and bone autografts (n = 2) were then implanted into 25 mm long metatarsal diaphyseal defects...