The effects of growth and differentiation factor 5 on bone marrow stromal cell transplants in an in vitro tendon healing model

The effects of growth differentiation factor-5 (GDF-5) and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) on tendon healing were investigated under in vitro tissue culture conditions. BMSCs and GDF-5 placed in a collagen gel were interpositioned between the cut ends of dog flexor digitorum profundus tendons. The tendons were randomly assigned into four groups: 1) repaired tendon without gel; 2) repaired tendon with BMSC-seeded gel; 3) repaired tendon with GDF-5 gel without cells; and 4) repaired tendon with GDF-5 treated BMSC-seeded gel. At 2 and 4 weeks, the maximal strength of repaired tendons with GDF-5 treated BMSCs-seeded gel was significantly higher than in tendons without gel interposition. However, neither BMSCs nor GDF-5 alone significantly increased the maximal strength of healing tendons at 2 or 4 weeks. These results suggest that the combination of BMSCs and GDF-5 accelerates tendon healing, but either BMSCs or GDF-5 alone are not effective in this model.