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Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a brittle bone disease in which there is an inadequate amount of Bone Collagen protein produced by cells. It has no cure and its treatments are highly ineffective. This project aimed to create a disease model using gene knockdown cells, seeded into a silk scaffold. We attempted to spur bone growth in the model by adding Bone Morphogenic Protein 2 (BMP-2), Transforming ... read moreGrowth Factor β (TGF- β) or both cytokines to the growth media fed to the scaffolds. The goal was to gain insight about healthy and diseased bone development by comparing results to that of normal mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the same scaffolds. Well established qualitative tests and quantitative assays were used to assess the results. These included scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the Sircol collagen content Assay. Eventually it was shown that BMP-2 increased collagen production even in knockdown cells. BMP-2 also increased calcium mineralization. Knock down cells treated with both growth factors showed higher gene expression of COL1α1 than the untreated group.read less
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