Tissue Engineering.

Abstract

Although bone is a dynamic and well-vascularized tissue with innate healing and remodeling capacities (Salgado et al., 2004) , up to 10% of the bony fractures are complicated by non-union (Einhorn, 1995; Hayda et al., 1998; Marsh, 1998; Salgado et al., 2004; Bongso, 2005) , which require additional treatment with bone grafts in order to achieve defect union and healing. In fact, bone grafts has become the second most transplanted tissue in the world after blood, with approximately one million cases of bone graft transplantation occurring in United States alone annually (Salgado et al., 2004; Bongso, 2005).