Journal: Bioactive Materials
Article Title: Sustained release PLGA microspheres loaded with a bone-affinity Bmp2 enhance fracture healing and mitigate heterotopic ossification
doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.02.050
Figure Lengend Snippet: D-Bmp2@M accelerates fracture healing in osteoporotic mice. a. Schematic of the osteoporotic fracture treatment procedure: C57BL/6 mice underwent bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) to establish an osteoporosis model, followed by transverse femoral fracture induction and 28 days of treatment. b. Representative X-ray images of the fracture healing process at different time points and Micro-CT 3D reconstruction of femurs on day 28 post-treatment: white arrows (fracture location), red arrows (early callus), blue dotted lines (femur boundary), and yellow dashed lines (callus boundary). Scale bar of x-ray: 5 mm; Scale bar of 3D reconstruction: 1 mm. c. Quantitative analysis of the fracture callus BMD and BV/TV (normal PBS Ctrl group data from PBS group in d–g) (n = 6 per group). d. Representative H&E staining images and representative Masson's trichrome staining images of fracture calluses at 28 days. Scale bar: 50 μm. e. Quantification of the callus area/total bone area ratio and quantification of the new bone area/total bone area ratio (n = 6 per group). f, g. Representative IFHC images of the callus region at 28 days and quantification of the relative fluorescence intensities: (f) The white dotted line represents the boundary between the callus and muscles (M: muscle, C: callus); Runx2 (red), ALP (green), and DAPI (blue). Scale bar: 50 μm; (g) Quantification of the relative fluorescence intensities of Runx2 and ALP (n = 6 per group). h, i. Representative IFHC images of the callus region at 28 days and quantification of the relative fluorescence intensities: (h) The white dotted line represents the boundary between the callus and muscles (M: muscle, C: callus); Sp7 (red), ALP (green), and DAPI (blue). Scale bar: 50 μm; (i) Quantification of the relative fluorescence intensities of Sp7 and ALP (n = 6 per group). The data are presented as the means ± standard deviations (SDs). Unpaired Student's t -test was used for two-group comparisons. One-way ANOVA was used for multiple comparisons. Significance levels: ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗∗∗ p < 0.0001.
Article Snippet: Female C57BL/6 mice (8 weeks old) were purchased from Vital River Laboratories (Beijing, China) and randomly grouped for subsequent experiments.
Techniques: Micro-CT, Staining, Fluorescence, Muscles