Screening materials and soluble compounds for mineralized tissue engineering

As more materials and soluble molecules are developed, the ability to screen these materials for applications in tissue engineering becomes increasingly important. A combinatorial library of poly(ß-amino ester)s was screened to identify an osteoconductive material based on material properties and cellular interactions. The optimal material, A6, was then implanted into a critical-sized cranial defect loaded with a known osteoinductive factor to promote mineralized tissue formation. The identification of new osteoinductive cues from a library of known compounds was completed using high-throughput screening techniques. Several potential `hits' were then screened in a dose response study that found 5 compounds to be the most potent. These methods of rapidly identifying materials and compounds from large libraries will be increasingly important in the field of tissue engineering.