Student Presenter(s): Chris Mathew
Faculty Mentor: Azhar Ilyas
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
School/College: College of Arts and Sciences, Long Island

Mesenchymal stem cells represent a promising source of cells for in vivo bone engineering due to their capability for multipotent differentiation. Advancements in bioprinting have enabled the printing of scaffolds that are able to impact the differentiation and proliferation of stem cells. As a result, many studies have investigated the use of various mesenchymal stem cells in combination with scaffolds for the effectiveness in bone regeneration. There are various factors that impact the efficacy of bone regeneration including scaffold composition, cell-surface interactions, and the animal model used. For the studies analyzed, the commonly used scaffold materials include collagen, alginate, and hydroxyapatite with tricalcium phosphate. The physiological properties of these scaffolds as well as interactions between the scaffold and the stem cells and the impact these interactions may have on bone regeneration were observed. While many studies have already investigated the in vitro potential of mesenchymal stem cells for osteogenic differentiation, in vivo studies may prove as a means for more efficient bone repair notably with critical-size defects. This review aims to categorize the advancements in vivo models using dental pulp stem cells, bone marrow stem cells, and adipose-derived stem cells and compare scaffold composition with effectiveness in repairing bone fractures.