Chondrogenic Predifferentiation Inhibits Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Angiogenic Effect in Pericranium-Derived Spheroids.

Craniofacial reconstruction of critical bone defects typically requires a bone graft. As graft availability may be restricted by disease or comorbidities, tissue engineering approaches are actively sought. The pericranium could provide new bone graft material. During development and repair, bone transitions through a chondrogenic phase. However, with tissue engineering, pluripotent cells can differentiate directly into bone cells. Does ability to recapitulate bone formation affect osteogenesis and vascularization of pericranium grafts? To answer this, we obtained tissue from nine patients with preplanned craniotomy surgery and studied three-dimensional osteogenesis and angiogenesis of pericranium-derived spheroids. First, we established growth and differentiation conditions on Matrigel. For each spheroid sample, we investigated (i) continuous osteogenic differentiation (COD) and (ii) osteogenic differentiation preceded by chondrogenesis (CD → OD). The effect of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was compared to VEGF supplemented with fibroblast growth factor, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, platelet-derived growth factor, and tumor necrosis factor-α, a growth factor mix (GFM) with possible synergistic effects. In this limited sample, we observed no age- or sex-related differences in cell expansion. Similarly, no statistically significant differences in osteogenic or angiogenic scores between COD or CD → OD spheroids were noted with regular media. In COD, however, VEGF statistically significantly increased angiogenesis compared to control media ( = 0.007). Also, in COD, both VEGF and VEGF + GFM increased osteogenesis ( = 0.047 and  = 0.038, respectively). By contrast, in CD → OD, neither VEGF nor VEGF + GFM yielded statistically significant angiogenesis or osteogenesis scores compared to control media. To understand these results, we characterized spheroid protein expression by nanoliquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Nine angiogenic proteins were either uniquely expressed or upregulated in COD compared to CD → OD: (i) endothelial markers JUP, PTGIS, PTGS2, and TYMP, (ii) tissue remodeling factors CHI3L1 and MMP14, and (iii) metabolic pathways modulators ANGPTL4, ITGA5, and WNT5A. ANGPTL4, ITGA5, PTGIS, PTGS2, and WNT5A define a conserved angiogenic network and were >2-fold increased in VEGF compared to VEGF + GFM. Finally, we examined bone formation on printable poly-(propylene-fumarate) (PPF) scaffolds for individualized grafting. Under COD + VEGF conditions, PPF scaffolds loaded with pericranium-derived cells displayed hallmarks of spongiform-like bone formation. Thus, the human pericranium may be a potential repository for bone-generating cells with applications in craniofacial bone repair using tissue printing.