Musculo-skeletal implant having a bioactive gradient

Patent Number: 7,351,423

Date of First Priority Issue: Wednesday September 1st, 2004

Date Issued: Tuesday April 1st, 2008

Assignee: Depuy Spine, Inc. (Raynham, MA)

Inventors: Kadiyala; Sudhakar (Newton, MA), Binette; Francois (Weymouth, MA), Coleman; Cynthia Marie (Brookline, MA), Kapur; Theresa Adams (Stoughton, MA)

From Class: 3D Culture/Scaffold

Comments: No comments

It is known that stem cells migrate towards injured tissue in response to chemotactic gradients. For example the basal SDF-1 gradient made by bone marrow stromal cells is why it is possible to achieve hematopoietic reconstitution by injecting donor cells intravenously. Similarly, SDF-1 acts as a gradient to call stem cells into damaged myocardium after a heart attack.

The current patent is aimed at teaching the person of skill in the art how to manufacture implants for treatment of muscle and skeletal injuries or defects. The implants covered consist of a matrix and at least 2 bioactive agents. The bioactivate agents do one or two things. The first is they call in stem cells and/or progenitor cells to accelerate healing, thus acting as chemotactic agents. The second action of the bioactive agent(s) is to accelerate bone formation. An example of the first agent is TGF-beta and the second is rhGDF-5.

View this patent on the USPTO website.

Added to StemCellPatents.com on Sunday April 6th, 2008

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